Babies Born July 2006 #7

Poor Cooper was so cranky yesterday. And is cranky again today. He now has the hang of crawling though. :dance: Yesterday he crawled from our bedroom, down the hallway and into the laundry!!! I have gone and put power point covers and we still have to buy a safety gate for the kitchen. But this morning he is very grizzly and has been crawling after us (he's not very fast yet) crying.

The funniest thing happened last night. Cooper went to bed with no fuss around 6.30 pm. Then at 10.00 pm he woke up crying. Mark tried patting him but Cooper seemed wide awake and was blowing raspberries. He wasn't crying anymore so we left him and started brushing our teeth and getting ready for bed. Then I peeked in at him. He was sitting up and the next thing I know he has hit the button to turn on his Aquarium. I gestured for Mark to come and have a look as Mark had never seen him turn on the Aquarium before. Then… Cooper lay down and went to sleep!!! OMG it was hilarious. It was like he was wanting to say "Daddy, enough with the patting – I just want my Aquarium on!". :cryinglaugh:

Fraser – Yeah he still is a big boy!

Mads – Sounds like Freya is doing extremely well. You must be very proud!

The only finger food I've given Cooper so far is a chunk of banana. He has gagged a couple of times but mostly he is okay with it. I might try a finger of steamed broccoli or zucchini next.

Dustmite – Yes Cooper has found his "wee wee". In particular last night! He was sitting up in the bath and was totally grabbing it! I was thinking YEOWCH!!!

kmh – Sorry to hear Charlotte is waking again. But yay for the pears! That's great.

Fee- as i can not work out how to downsize pics can i send you an eamil and are you able to downsize a new pic of charlotte. please.

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Fee- as i can not work out how to downsize pics can i send you an eamil and are you able to downsize a new pic of charlotte. please.

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Sure. Do you have my email addy?

Some ways you can do it though are through "Shrink Pictures" website (just Google "resize images") and you will see the website OR use Photobucket. When you upload your photos to Photobucket you can choose what size you want them to be (Avatar, Web, Email etc).

But I'm happy to help via email. :)

Actually after Googling "resize images" I can see there are a heap of websites which will help you:

• Shrink Pictures
• Resize Pic
• Resize 2 Mail (this looks easy to use)
• Picasa Google
• Dosize (this one looks VERY easy ... 1. Select the images you would like to resize / 2. Select the size you would like your new images to be / 3. Send them to your friends by email!)
• Pic Resize

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Dustmite- you poor thing, I hope your toe gets better soon. What are you studying?

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If all goes well I will graduate this May with a 2 year degree (AAS). I am studying IT stuff, Networking Management.

Thanks fee I worked it out through photobucket.

I just had a photograher here taking some pics of my girls, she took about 100 pics and it cost me $150, i get 4 blown up and the rest on to a CD. I carn't wait to get them back.

Em- i love the new pic, Charli has the same widows peak the same as Charlotte

Hi girls

Just a quick one to let you know I am still around but have been a slacker and not been posting though have been reading. Dylan is almost crawling and has worked out how to get from sitting to his tummy. He has started trying to get up on all fours but not wuite made it there but I reckon it will be any day now. Apart from that no real news here. Still renovating the house we are looking at kitchens this arvo and we are probably inspecting two houses early evening to buy so that's about it. I will be back to do personals soon.

Byeee

Hi everyone,

Big catch up email here…..

Regarding Sarina’s lack of baby noises, we had her hearing checked by an audiologist which showed no problems there. I spoke with a Speech Pathologist yesterday who said they start treating lack of babbling etc only from about 10 – 12 months so it’s still too early to tell if there really is a problem. I should be exaggerating my voice still though. Lots of ‘ooooo’ and ‘aaaahh’ sounds from me and talking face to face with her even if there is no feedback. She said lots of music is important and singing nursery rhymes. I do all this anyway so just a case of keep on doing it, I guess. She’s actually started making little noises in the last few days (just after she has mastered crawling) so something’s happening! I reckon her mind was busy focusing on moving and now she’s kind of figured it out, she’s ready to talk!

She’s also started to sleep on her front the last couple of days so I keep turning her over – should I or should I just let her sleep like that?

Bubs – has Danielle’s second lot of teeth come through? Sarina doesn’t look like she’s got any coming anytime soon! Such a gummy baby. I’m taking her for a free trial swimming lesson on Monday – what do you do in your baby swimming lessons? I can’t believe Danielle got up on her feet! Woohoo!! To answer your query re: lack of baby noise from Danielle, I reckon she’s been so busy mastering motor skills that she’ll soon start trying ‘talking’ too. I was reassured that it’s pretty common for some babies to be quiet when they’re going through this stage and especially if they’re the first baby. No need to worry – just keep on talking.

Carlys – Congratulations on getting married! I bet you had a great day.

Fee – I’m still doing 3 hrly feeds too. It used to be 3.5 – 4 hrly a couple of months ago, but she now just seems to want more milk than food. Sarina’s tried lots of veggies, fruit and chicken too but just doesn’t seem to want a lot. Sometimes she’ll have a tablespoon & a half, sometimes just a tip of a spoon amount. I offer after milk too. I made up a beef casserole for Sarina but left the top off by accident and it all dried up and stuck to the bottom of the pan – made a nice lunch for me though! Have to try again. Cooper’s crawling is great! Sarina’s started doing raspberries again (she did it around 5 months too for a while). I was told that they are developing mouth muscles when they do so it helps with ‘talking’!

Kmh – Sarina likes putting her hands into her bowl of food a squishing it so I gave her some peach to hold and she wasn’t interested. Not squishy enough! I can guarantee she’ll eat apple but anything else is hit and miss.

Fraser – thanks for the message. I’m not worried anymore – just spend my time singing all day which makes Sarina giggle. Sorry you’ve had it tough recently. Charlie sounds like he’s doing well though.

Dustmite – Sarina’s also discovered the remote controls this week. Don’t know what it is about them – we don’t have the TV on in the day so can’t see why she likes them apart from the feel of the buttons. Loves my mobile phone too. Ouch for your toe – hope the swelling’s going down.

Hi to everyone else I’ve missed.

RoyaUK - Hope your little one starts making allot more sounds for you. It's cool though that she is mobile now. Corban still is not there yet. He ends up moving by scooting from his constant rocking motion and attempts at getting in the crawl position. Oh well, he will finally get there, we will be so excited then it will bug us because he will be all over the place and we will have a hard time keeping track of him! LOL

Hi all,

Well everything has settled down now after the wedding.. so i am back for a chat!

Georgia has an ear infection... happy days!NOT! She has been off her milk a bit, and decided that waking up in the night every two hours is the go... and she developed a little cough...so off to the doctors we went... I thought maybe a chest cold, but the doc said her chest is clear, but her ears are inflamed... he said it can be due to teething, and she 'is' getting her top two teeth now, so maybe thats why..? aparantly it hurts their ears when they lay down for sleeping, so thats why her sleep has deminished.. he prescribed amoxicillin and panadol, so we will see how she goes :( im not convinced that its not in her chest, as her cough is worse today... but he did say that its all ear infection related symptoms... so??

Even with being sick, Georgia is still quite happy...and crawling around like mad... shes even ventured into the kitchen from the lounge room... (long crawl!) well, its more like a commando crawl, shes not quite lifting her belly up off the ground enough, but shes zipping around really fast, its so funny to watch!

Shes still not saying any mama's or dada's :( I guess she will when shes ready..

Well, if Georgias lack of self settling was not bad enough, after this ear thingie its going to be back to square one... darn it ! Shes not even close to sending her self off to sleep now... I am worried, cos i know she needs to learn this skill...i dont want to be rocking a four year old to sleep each night! lol! shes heavy enough now!

Anyway, sorry for the lack of personals! Its good that you are all well... (except for Dustmites toe!)

Carls xoxox

carls- I know what you are going through at the moment, Charlotte will not self settle ( expect if i get her down just at the right time which is really never) and its getting so much worse, but at night she is taking up to 4 hours to get to sleep, and I am having to get her to sleep in our bed then move her to her room and this is like around 11pm and then she is waking over night AGAIN and then is up around 7:30-8am.
SO we are off to sleep school for 2 nights on the 20th of march.

Cooper's eating a bit more lately. Up to about 3 cubes per meal now. He's getting the hang of it!

Also he's starting to pull himself up on things. He pulled himself up to standing on Mark this morning.

His 4th tooth has finally come through. I hope he will be a bit happier now. He woke at 1.30 am this morning though – very strange. Mark and I both tried for nearly an hour to get him back to sleep with no success. We patted, cuddled, rocked, gave teething gel and Panadol. I ended up giving him a BF. He then slept until 6.30 am and I gave him another BF then.

Anyway I'm off to a wedding soon. Mark's already there as he's in the bridal party. I'm taking Cooper to the ceremony but then bringing him back home after. I'm going to do his usual bed time routine (dinner, bath, BF, story, bed). Mark's parents will be at our house by about 6.00 pm and they will mind Cooper while I head back out to the wedding reception. It will be the first time both Mark and I have left Cooper!!! I'm nervous. But all should be fine as he should just stay fast asleep. I will try to get home by about 10.00 pm.

kmh – The pic of Charlotte in your ticker is just adorable!

Cassie – Not long and Dylan will be off. Cooper got the hang of it pretty fast. After he learnt to get from tummy to sitting, he got the hang of crawling quite quickly.

RoyaUK – Sarina will be fine sleeping on her tummy. Cooper has been sleeping on his tummy and side since 4 months old. He rarely sleeps on his back anymore. I was worried at first but you soon get used to it!

Dustmite – How's your toe going?

carlys – Poor Georgia. I hope her ear infection clears up soon. Must be very painful for her.

Hello there

Well we went to engagment party last night, and Charlotte was the most perfect angel, she slept for the first 2 1/2 hours with loud music and over 100 people chatting and then and a quick feed and spent the rest of the night until 11:30pm being handed around and dancing with me.

Fee- how was your night with Cooper, I bet you missed him, How was the wedding?

I got a call from my mum, as her DP son had a baby boy born today, Harrison, anyway, they have found out that something is wrong with his heart and he is not getting enough air, so they have transported him from Sale to the Childrens. His daddy has gone with him, but his mummy could not go as she had a c/s to have him, I really feel sorry for her, it must be so hard to have a new born and have him taken 100k's away. I well let you all know what happens.

Its so quite in here, where is everyone.

Kelly - that sounds really awful - poor little thing - his poor mum too - I hope everything is ok. Your ticker pic looks FANTASTIC!

Fee - how did you go at the wedding? did you make it home by 10pm? we went to a wedding about a month ago - I had the same plans but didn't get home until 11.30 - seemed really late but in the scheme of things it's not at all :lol:

Charlie still isn't sleeping very well at night - so we're going to the parenting centre to get some sleep strategies and if that doesn't work then we're of to the sleep clinic at St Helens hospital. I really need to get this sorted asap - I'm back at work on the 1st of August - and I really want him to be settled by then or I'll freak out.

First swimming lessons on Saturday - he loved it - Simon went in with him - couldn't bear to reveal my legs to anyone!

Here are some snaps

http://darguethomsonbaby.photosite.c..._2073_IMG.html (His cousin Ava is on the right hand side of the pic)
http://darguethomsonbaby.photosite.c..._2078_IMG.html
http://darguethomsonbaby.photosite.c..._2080_IMG.html
http://darguethomsonbaby.photosite.c..._2082_IMG.html
http://darguethomsonbaby.photosite.c..._2083_IMG.html


Hope everyone else is well and happy and has sleeping babes!

Hi all

The wedding was fun but I didn't really get to spend much time with Mark as he was in the bridal party. I felt sad leaving Cooper at first but while I was at the wedding reception I didn't worry too much. I got home by 10.30 pm and Mark's parents said they didn't hear a peep out of Cooper. Yay!

Here is a pic of the 3 of us before I took Cooper home:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/Fee78/DSCN6200.jpg

I'm glad the wedding wasn't Sunday night as Cooper woke at 10.00 pm crying. Mark and I tried for 1 hour to get him back to sleep but he wouldn't. In the end I had to breastfeed him. This happened a few nights ago except it was at 1.30 am. So weird. Yet last night he slept all the way through to 5.00 am as he normally does. Although we had a bit of trouble getting him to go to sleep in the first place (also pretty unusual for bed time). I wonder if it's teeth AGAIN?! Gosh that means Cooper is going to be a cranky bum for months on end. His two top teeth are fully through the gum now – OMG they are huge. Poor bugger. It must be so painful.

I sort of thought that once Cooper was crawling around he'd be happier. But he seems to have a real separation anxiety thing going on. He just crawls after me crying. But then when I pick him up he squirms and wriggles like he wants to get down. So I put him down and he cries. I do play with him but I also like him to play on his own sometimes!!! It's quite frustrating. I think Cooper gets bored at home. :rolleyes:

He's eating more again as well. Last time I said 3 cubes but now at dinner he's having 5 cubes. I think he'd eat more too…

kmh – That's so sad about Harrison. I hope he will be okay.

Fraser – Is Charlie waking frequently at night? Are you feeding him or just re-settling him? Sorry if you've said, but I can't remember!

Those pics of Charlie in the pool are so cute!

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Fraser – Is Charlie waking frequently at night? Are you feeding him or just re-settling him? Sorry if you've said, but I can't remember!!

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I end up having to feed him to re-settle him - last night I tried just patting him whilst he was still in bed - but he screamed the house down, then I tried just rocking him or walking with him - but he just go more awake and ended up chatting and talking with me and squealing - so I ended up feeding him and he went right back to sleep... he doesn't drink much - I know it's just comfort but I don't know how to stop. Plus last night he kept rolling onto his tummy so his head was face down in his hands - and he would breathe really fast and loud and I wasn't sure if that was such a good thing - but when I tried to roll him back over he would either wake and cry or just roll straight back. Am tearing my hair out here! :wall:

9 8o9 uy uuy6 00077777777777777777 44c wa F Sa az A Hello from Charlotte

Charlotte is sleeping crap again :( I don't know whats gone wrong, She slept with us for most of the night, and was up all the time, so we all just had a sleep, as Madison is in Childcare today.
Harrison has problems with his heart so he will ned operation on his heart in a few days, and his mum is discharging her self from hospital today so she can be with him. He open his eyes this morning for the first time today as well, as he is so sick, he didn't have the strengh to open them.

Em- When are you going to the sleep thing, we are off on the 20th of this month for 2 nights, I love the pics.

Fee- I think Charlotte is going through the whole separation anxiety as well, because when she see's me she wants me, and sooks until I pick her up. Very cute pic of the 3 of you at the wedding.

Hiya everyone!!

Sorry I haven't been around lately. We had a long weekend over here and works a bit crazy at the moment.

Quick update here - had my FIL's wedding on Saturday night. Danielle was very well behaved but wanted to talk through the whole ceremony so I had walk away and watch from afar. She slept for about an hour but woke up during speaches and wouldn't go back to sleep but she was happy swaddled in a blanket sitting with me. So many people commented how well behaved she was for the whole day. I was so proud of her. Sunday we had my Mother's Group over for a BBQ with the dads as well - everyone seemed to have a good time except for Ken - he burnt the meat on the BBQ. Someone brought really fatty chops that just spewed fat everywhere and the BBQ was pretty much on fire! Monday we went to a friend's place for BBQ and a swim. Danielle loved the swim.

Danielle's now really crawling properly and getting through the whole house. She's pulling herself up on everything and standing and dancing away. She's just starting to talk and babble a bit now. She's going da da da da and looking at Ken. It's almost like she knows that Ken's Dadda. She's also sitting up on her own now. She goes for a crawl fits a toy and sits up. She loves waving too - she waves at everyone. Cute story for you - Mum had to drop Dad off to pick up a truck and Danielle was with her. Dad pulled up in the truck next to them, Danielle looked over and saw my Dad pulling faces and waving at her. When she realised it was him she waved like crazy and started babbling to him. Mum said it was so cute.

Mads - I too mush everything for Danielle instead of pureeing everything. I just boil up a huge pot of varous things and just hand mash it with the masher. She's fine with lumps.

Kel - that's so sad with Harrision. It's just like that Saving Babies show. I watched 10mins of it last Thursday and had to turn it over as I was in tears watching it (I had Danielle in my arms thinking how lucky I was - I'm a sook!!). Danielle also sooks when someone she does know doesn't pay attention to her. At the wedding she wouldn't go to any family member except me, Ken and Mum. She freaked out majorly when Ken's Mum took her on Sunday at her drop in visit - I loved it - Danielle hates her!!

Em - I had to laugh about your legs as I was thinking cracking the bikini bottom out but I looked at my legs and I have major shink (stretch) marks all over my thighs so maybe not. I'll stick to my shorts. I hope things get better with Charlie's sleeping. Looks like he really enjoyed swimming.

Roya - no Danielle's second lot of teeth haven't come through yet. She wasn't even 5 months when she got her first 2 but the next 2 are taking for ever!! Her gums are really white but no teeth. She's been really good lately so I can't complain at the moment. At swimming we sing songs and do actions to them like floating, swishing, jumping, blowing bubbles and dunking them. Danielle loves it. She's gotten the idea of closing her eyes and holding her breath when I dunk her - she's so clever!!

Fee - with Danielle's meat - I've either cooked up some mince and just mushed it with a fork and put it with her vegies and frozen it or just take a piece from what we are having - like a little lamb steak - cook it up and slice it very finely with a jaggered knife and it just falls apart into little pieces. I haven't boiled any meat as I think I don't want to eat boiled meat so I won't give it to her but I have cooked it in the microwave if I can't be bothered frying it.

Better run - it's so so so hot over here - over 40 the last 2 days and it's 42 again today! 38 and humid tomorrow - just as bad - where's autumn weather??? There's no aircon in the office either - I'm sweating like a pig!! I just think it'll help me with my weight loss - 11kgs down - 5kgs left to go!!

Have a great day!!

I finally saw Cooper clap hands! Mark said he did it the other day but I missed it. It was so cute. :clap:

He's pulling himself up onto stuff now. Not the couch but things down lower (us when we're sitting on the floor, his old rocker, the Huggies box). And he can't stand up straight. He only stands up halfway – so he's on his feet but his back is bent!

He crawls everywhere now. Loves the drain holes in the bathroom and laundry. Have to keep him away from the bathroom one as I'm scared his fingers will get stuck. He also loves watching the washing machine go around but at the same time he gets scared and cries!!!

Question... Does anyone else's baby pull their own hair? When I'm feeding Cooper he often grabs at his hair and yanks it soooooo hard. I think he's about to pull it out of his head!!!

Fraser – Cooper has done the same thing recently. Waking up at weird hours and the only thing that will settle him is a feed. But he's not doing it every night.

Does Charlie not normally sleep on his tummy? He should be fine. Cooper's been sleeping on his tum since about 4 months.

kmh – Sorry to hear Charlotte is not sleeping well. Gosh these babies keep us on our toes. Always mixing it up! I can never figure out why Cooper changes his sleeping patterns so much (although it's mostly day sleeps for him).

Mads – It was okay to have a night out. Not anything I'm keen to repeat though. I'm happy to stay home with Cooper or otherwise continue with nights out for the 3 of us. Usually we go to BBQs at friend's houses and Cooper just sleeps in the portacot. I didn't really enjoy leaving him even though it went smoothly! But we have two more weddings coming up so I'll have to do it again.

I've also stopped pureeing. I just use a fork or the potato masher.

Bubseykel – What a cute story about Danielle waving. Cooper seems to have forgotten how to wave.

So did Danielle crawl before she could sit? Wow it's usually the other way around isn't it? She's been crawling for a while now hasn't she?

I tried boiling and then pureeing mince and it was feral. Looked like dog food. I didn't give it to Cooper on it's own … but it was cooked on it's own IYKWIM. I've since tried some baby recipes and have cooked up some fancy beef & vegies and chicken, vegies and lentils. They are yum! I'll post recipes for everyone.

Here are some recipes!

Recipes for babies - from 7 months

Baby Oat Porridge

25g (¼ cup) rolled (porridge) oats
185 ml (¾ cup) milk

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes 3-4 serves

Grind the rolled oats to a fine powder in a spice grinder or a small food processor.

Put the oats in a small saucepan and gradually whisk in the milk and 60 ml (¼ cup) water until well combined. Slowly bring to the boil and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.

Cauliflower soup

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 small garlic clove, crushed (optional)
300 g cauliflower, cut into small florets
500 ml (2 cups) salt-reduced vegetable or chicken stock

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Makes 6-8 serves

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Add the cauliflower and stock, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool slightly and process in a blender or food processor until smooth.

The soup keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge or can be frozen in serving-size portions for up to 2 months.

Lentils and vegetables

2 tablespoons lentils or split peas
2 tablespoons mashed mixed vegetables
milk or cooled boiled water
cottage cheese (optional)

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Makes 1 serve

Rinse the lentils or split peas under cold running water and drain. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the lentils or split peas and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until tender.

Drain, then process in a blender or small food processor with the vegetables and a little milk or cooled boiled water to give a smooth consistency. Add a little cottage cheese if desired and mix well.

As baby gets older; simply mashed the cooked ingredients together with a fork to produce a lumpier consistency.

Variation: Chicken, lentils and vegetables

Steam 1 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin until cooked through. Add to the food processor with the lentils and vegetables and blend until smooth. As baby gets older and is starting to eat lumpier food, finely chop the steam chicken and mash the cooked lentils and vegetables with a fork until lumpy, rather than puree them.

Spinach & potato mash

1 potato, peeled
1 tablespoon finely chopped English spinach
milk or cooled boiled water

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes 1 serve

Cook the potato in boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Put the chopped spinach into a small saucepan with 2 teaspoons water. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. Keep the saucepan tightly covered during cooking, then drain to remove any excess liquid.

Mash the potato and stir in the English spinach, adding a little milk or cooled boiled water if necessary to give a smooth consistency.

Variations: Peas or broccoli can be easily substituted for the spinach. Ensure that the peas are well blended as whole peas are a choking risk for very young children.

Poached fish with potato and peas

60 g piece white fish
milk
1 small new potato, cut into cubes
2 teaspoons frozen peas

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes 1 serve

Put the fish into a small saucepan and add enough milk to cover. Simmer, covered, for 3-5 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, add the potato and peas to boiling water and cook until tender. Drain. Mash the potato and peas, adding a little milk from the fish.

Remove any bones from the fish, then flake and serve with the mashed vegetables or mix through the vegetables.

Stewed beef & vegetables

90g lean round or chuck steak or veal steak
1 new potato
1 small carrot
1 baby onion
½ garlic clove, crushed
small piece of bay leaf
sprig of parsley

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Makes 2 serves

Put the steak, potato, carrot and onion in a small saucepan. Add the garlic, the piece of bay leaf and parsley sprig, then cover with water. Cover, bring to the boil, then simmer gently until the meat is tender. Add more water as needed.

Discard the bay leaf and parsley sprig. Blend the ingredients with a little of the cooking liquid.

Steamed chicken and apple

½ red cooking apple, peeled and cored
2 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes 1 serve

Thinly slice the apple and cut the chicken into small cubes. Place the chicken tenderloin pieces in a steamer and arrange the apple slices over the chicken. Set over a saucepan of boiling water and steam for about 5 minutes, or until tender.

Puree or finely chop the chicken and apple, together with a little of the cooking liquid.

Variation: Steamed chicken and pumpkin

Cut 100 g pumpkin into 5 mm thick slices and steam with the chicken for 5 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender and the chicken is cooked. Puree or finely chop the pumpkin and chicken and mix with a little ricotta cheese if desired.

Semolina pudding

2 tablespoons semolina
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
250 ml (1 cup) milk or cooled boiled water

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes 1 serve

Put the semolina in a small saucepan, then add the butter and milk. Simmer; covered, until the semolina is completely tender.

Variation: Stir in 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped sultanas and dried apricots with the butter and milk.

Recipes for babies – from 9 months

Simple scrambled eggs

1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Prep time: 2 mins
Cooking time: 4 mins
Makes 1 serve

Lightly beat together the whole egg and egg yolk with the milk. Melt the butter in a small non-stick frying pan over low heat and pour in the egg mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the egg begins to set underneath. This will take about 3-4 minutes. Stir lightly and cook until just set. Serve the scrambled eggs with lightly toasted bread.

Variations: Try adding grated cheese and chopped cooked chicken for a more substantial meal. Alternatively fold through finely chopped wilted baby English spinach leaves and finely chopped tomatoes.

Carrot and pumpkin risotto

90 g unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
250 g pumpkin, cut into small cubes
2 carrots, cut into small cubes
7-8 cups salt-reduced vegetable stock
440 g (2 cups) risotto rice
90 g (1 cup) freshly grated parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Makes 4 serves

Heat 60 g of the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Add the onion and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until soft. Add the pumpkin and carrot and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until tender. Mash slightly with a potato masher. Put the stock in a saucepan and keep at simmering point.

Add the rice to the vegetables and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Ladle in enough hot stock to cover the rice; stir well. Reduce the heat and add more stock as it is absorbed, stirring frequently. Continue until the rice is tender and creamy (this will take about 25 minutes).

Remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining butter, cheese and nutmeg and season with freshly ground black pepper. Fork through. Cover and leave for 5 minutes before serving.

Cheesy stars

60 g (2/3 cup) small, star-shaped pasta
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon grated cheese
1 tablespoon milk
chopped parsley

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Makes 1 serve

Cook the pasta in boiling water for about 8-9 minutes, or until tender.

Drain, return the pasta to the saucepan, the add the butter, cheese and milk. Mix well and stir over low heat for 1 minute, or until the butter and cheese have melted. Stir in a little parsley. If necessary, mash to serve.

Variation: You could substitute the star-shaped pasta for any number of other small pasta shapes. Use larger spirals and bow-shaped pasta for babies as they show more interest in finger foods.

Steamed fish and diced vegetables

60 g piece boneless white fish, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons finely diced vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, carrot, frozen peas)
milk (optional)

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 8 mins
Makes 1 serve

Put the fish with the vegetables in a steamer and set over a saucepan of boiling water. Steam for about 8 minutes, or until tender.

Mash the fish and vegetables together to form a smooth consistency, adding a little of the cooking liquid or milk if necessary. Otherwise, flake the fish and chop the accompanying vegetables, adding a little milk or cooking liquid.

Cauliflower in creamy sauce

60 g fresh or frozen cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon dry milk powder or ricotta cheese
¾ teaspoon cornflour (cornstarch)

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 8 mins
Makes 1 serve

Cut the cauliflower into small florets and boil or steam until tender. Drain well.

Put the milk, milk powder or ricotta cheese and cornflour in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until thickened.

Finely chop or mash the cauliflower and stir into the sauce.

Hint: This recipe can also be used for diced carrots, tiny florets of broccoli, diced asparagus or pumpkin.

Dal

310 g (1¼ cups) red lentils
3 g unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Makes 4-6 serves

Put the lentils in a large bowl and cover with water. Remove any floating particles and drain the lentils well.

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Fry the onion for about 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and spices; cook, stirring for another minute.

Add the lentils and 500 ml (2 cups) water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer; stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Watch carefully towards the end of cooking time, as the mixture could burn on the bottom of the pan.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature with pitta toasts or with naan or pitta bread.

Lamb shank and barley casserole

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
50 g (1/3 cup) diced carrot
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
2 French trimmed lamb shanks (about 600 g)
plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
2 tablespoons pearl barley
500 ml (2 cups) salt-reduced beef stock

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 2 hours 10 mins
Makes 3-4 serves

Heat the oil in a small flameproof casserole dish or heavy-based saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and rosemary and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until soft.

Dust the lamb shanks in flour; shaking off any excess. Add to the dish, turning to brown all sides. Add the barley and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and falling away from the bone.

Remove the shanks, allow to cool slightly, then remove the meat from the bone, discarding any sinew. Cut the meat into small pieces and return to the casserole, stirring to combine. For a smoother texture put in a food processor and lightly process. This meal can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw, then reheat to serve.

Vegetable casserole

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
½ celery stalk, finely diced
½ carrot, diced
50 g (¼ cup) brown lentils
200 g tinned diced tomatoes
185 ml (¾ cup) salt-reduced vegetable or chicken stock
150 g pumpkin, deseeded and cut into 1 cm cubes
½ zucchini, quartered lengthways and cut into 1 cm slices

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
Makes 3-4 serves

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the lentils, tomato and stock and stir to combine. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Add the pumpkin and zucchini and cook for a further 10-12 minutes, or until tender.

Mash lightly with a fork to serve if necessary.

Rice pudding

110 g (½ cup) risotto rice
1 litre (4 cups) milk
2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
1 teaspoon unsalted butter (optional)
pinch of cinnamon (optional)
fresh berries, to garnish (optional)

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1½ hours
Makes 4 serves

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Place the rice, milk, sugar, vanilla and butter and cinnamon, if using, in a baking dish and stir.

Bake for about 1½ hours, stirring every 15 minutes to make sure it doesn't stick to the dish. Remove the pudding from the oven when it has the consistency of creamed rice. Do not overcook or it may dry out. Cool slightly and top with fresh berries.

Fruit jelly

1 tablespoon gelatine powder
375 ml (1½ cups) unsweetened fruit juice
200 g (¾ cup) pureed fresh or drained, tinned fruit in natural juice

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes 6 serves

Sprinkle the gelatine over 125 ml (½ cup) cool water in a small saucepan. Heat through, then add the fruit juice and heat through again. Pour into a mixing bowel and leave until it begins to thicken. Stir in the pureed fruit until well combined.

Transfer to small dishes and refrigerate until set.

Yoghurt jelly

1½ tablespoons gelatine powder
375 ml (1½ cups) unsweetened fruit juice
250 g (1 cup) plain yoghurt

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes 6 serves

Sprinkle the gelatine over 125 ml (½ cup) cool water in a small saucepan. Heat through, then add the fruit juice and heat through again. Pour into a mixing bowel and leave until it begins to thicken. Stir in the yoghurt, then beat with electric mixers until fluffy.

Transfer to small dishes and refrigerate until set.

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Question... Does anyone else's baby pull their own hair? When I'm feeding Cooper he often grabs at his hair and yanks it soooooo hard. I think he's about to pull it out of his head!!!

.

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Yep Charlie doe this - I thought it might be part of the teething experience - his head hurts so he just pulls at what ever - but then again he does it all the time - He pulls my hair at any given chance - I wonder if he just like the feel of it


Bubs - That is very cute about Danielle and the waving! LOL at her not liking your MIL - I can't wait for Charlie to refuse to go to mine.....keheheheh evil!

Mads - Does Freya get a rash from all the drool? Charlie has a red patch next to his mouth - I think it's from all the teething drool - the clinic nurse said teething drool is way more acidic than normal drool (eeuuiii drool....) - but I'm not sure if this red rash thing is from the Drool or maybe the chlorine from the pool

Kel - Have you heard any more about Harrison?

Roya - Charlie has just started to sleep on his tummy - it has freaked me out a little bit - but I'm slowly getting used to it - he just rolls back over if I try to put him on his back - it should be fine - I just hate it when he sleeps with his face in his hands, it make a horrible sucking noise!

Carly - Is Georgia's ear better?

Hello everyone else!

Em

Fee - Danielle's pulling her hair too and scratches her head. I'm wondering if the craddle cap is itchy and that's why she's doing it. I can't get anything to remove the craddle cap - I've tried everything!! She could sit by herself for ages without leaning on anything but she's only just got the knack of crawling then sitting back down. She was doing it heaps last night. I get so excited when she does it and dance around and she laughs at me. I want to get Danielle to clap hands now but she's too busy waving at everyone. I might try one of those recipes tonight if I have time after work.

Em - Danielle pulls my hair too. I can't remember the last time I wore it down - I hate it when she pulls it. I don't have much as it is after it all falling out and still falling out. She ends up with big handfulls..

Mads - I hope the teeth come through quickly too. I love how panadol knocks them out but I don't use it very often. Danielle has about 3 days in a row that she plays up and then she's an angel for about a week then we get 3 days of horror again. I wish hers would come through too - we are due for 3 days of horror again!!

Hello everyone,

I took Charlotte to see my health nurse today, as she was up most of the night last night, so I asked her what to do, and she told me to just do what I am doing until I go to sleep school in 2 weeks. Anyway I had her weighed whilst I was there and she put on 55 grams in 2 weeks. , so all up in the last 7 weeks she has put on a total of 225 grams. So we went to see our GP today, and I have to take her tomorrow to get a urine sample, and get her weighed next week, and if she has not gained much then the poor baba has to have some blood tests.
Got a call from my mum to tell me that Harrison had his first cuddle with his dad, and the both cried, and his mummy got transferred to the womens hospital, which is great, they also have a room at the ronald macdonalds house at the childrens hospital, don't know when his heart op it yet.

Fee- thats for those recipes, I will have to look at trying them.

Well I have to go and check on Charlotte as i put her down in her bed, she was playing and now its quite in there, hopefully she has gone to sleep.

Hi guys! Well, its day seven of georgias ear infection :( she is still rubbing her ear, so its back off to the doc today for another check up :( poor little darling... i hate seeing her sick... although, her sleep habits are changing (for the better)... so it might not be quite as sore as it was... she is putting herself to sleep now (FINALLY!!!), she just does her little tired grizzle for a few mins, then she drops off ! YAY! and she is only up for one feed a night...but still wakes up a few times when she loses her dummy.... its tricky though, as i dont want to do CC while she has a sore ear.. so maybe as she gets good at self settling, and once she is better, it might rectify itself? who knows, these bubbas seem to change their sleep habits every couple of weeks!!

It sure seems worth considering ear troubles if your babies sleep patterns change from waking once a night to several times a night all of the sudden ...its not even something I would have thought of until this happened.

still waiting for Georgia to start saying ma ma or da da... :( shes 7 months and 3 weeks, I thought it might have happened by now??

Fee - Great baby food ideas!! I have started Georgia on chicken with her vegies...SHE LOVES IT! (but she loves food in general, so im not suprised!!) ...also i have added a couple of dried prunes to her normal fruit puree, (stewed with her normal, apples or pears etc)..something different, and she likes that too!

Oh, and Georgia starts playgroup tomorrow!! how exciting.. she needs some friends so she has someone to invite to her b'day when she turns one!! (oh my god, can you believe it! ONE!...its not that far away is it!)

Well, better run, gotta hang out the washing while shes asleep!

Carl xoxoxox

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question, how many wet nappies is your babyies having, I am asking this as Charlotte has nearly dry all day today and i know this as we are trying to get a urine sample, she only just has a wet nappy and it was not much. I am going to mention this when i see the doctor on tuesday.
On and today i introduced lunch, she nearly ate 2 ice cubes of apple and pear and nearly 2 ice cubes of carrot for dinner, the most she has ever eaten, hopefully she will start to gain some more weight now.

Hope everyone is having a great night, talk soon;)

kelly - Georgias nappy is wet nearly every time i change her...as in maybe 8-9 times a day, and dirty about 2-3 times a day... she is on three to four ice cubes of solids 3 times a day, so hence alot of dirty nappies! She is taking about 150-200ml of milk every four hours during the day, a top up before bed, and one bottle during the night...shes quite a thirsty girl! So hence alot of wet nappies too!! Although sometimes the nappies are so absorbant you wouldnt know she was even wet!...oh, also, on really hot days, I offer Georgia cooled boiled water between feeds..she has a no drip sippy cup, and rolls around feeding herself that which also helps to keep her hydrated and teaches her to use the cup by herself..(its only water so it dosent matter too much if it drips a tiny bit)

Dont worry, Charlotte will be okay, but a trip to the doctors would just make sure of that, and put your mind to rest :)...oh and YAY for charlotte eating so well!! Keep up the good work!

love Carls xoxoox

Cooper said "baba" yesterday! Or "buba" … something like that. He keeps saying it now. I think this might be more his first word than the time he said "mama" a few weeks ago. So much for "dada" being the first word a baby usually says!!! :lol:

He's also clapping his hands really well now - just as of today. It looks so cute and funny. He's been clapping nearly all day!!!

We're having a few night time sleep issues at the moment. Last night was the worst. He woke at 9.00 pm crying. Mark and I both tried to settle him. From the past week or so since he's been doing this, we thought it wasn't going to work and I would just have to feed him. Anyway I finally got him to sleep without feeding. I was very pleased. But I just knew he'd wake again. Anyway he did – at 10.30 pm. He was screaming and screaming even when I was cuddling him. I gave in and fed him. Then he woke at 4.30 am so I fed him as this was fairly close to his wake up time. Then we both went back to bed until 6.30 am.

I can't figure out why he's doing this? He's woken a few times at 10.00 pm and other times it's 1.00 am. We can spend an hour trying to re-settle him but it doesn't work. Only a feed will help. I wonder if he's waking up and feeling lonely or something! Might just be an age related thing he's going through? :rolleyes: :(

Fraser – How's Charlie going sleeping on his tum? How are you?!

Mads – How's Freya? Still cranky?

Bubseykel – Poor Danielle having cradle cap. I hope you can find a cure for it! Cooper doesn't have it and I have no idea why he pulls at his hair so much!

kmh – I hope Charlotte doesn't have to have any blood tests. Poor bubba. How did the urine sample go?

I'm not sure how wet nappies Cooper has. Maybe 5-6?

carlys – Maybe I should have Cooper's ears tested. I did a month or two again as I was concerned but it was nothing. Maybe I should try again. His sleeping is not the best at the moment.

How did playgroup go?

Hi Guys!

Darn it! I just typed a whole big personals post, and then erased it by accident! So in brief-

Fee - Good Idea about getting ears tested...as i mentioned, it came as a huge suprise to me that Georgie had and infection... wouldnt have even thought about it... but it explained alot...she better now... and is nearly sleeping thru again..only one feed a night now...and re settles herself again... YAY! oh and playgroup was called off cos three other babies were sick...so this week it is !

Kelly - How'd you go with Charlotte? IS she okay?

Bubseykel - Georgia had a tiny bit of cradle cap when she was younger... i scratched it off gently and lathered it with olive oil..smells yuck, but it cleared up fine... it was not that bad though...so it may not work.. are you using anything on it?

Oh, Georgia still has not said anything :( no mama or dada :( ... i guess she will soon enough...

averyone else, a big hello! sorry i have no time to re write all my personals... but will catch up really soon!!

Carls coc

whoops...was meant to be

Carly xox !! (how funny!)

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying your long weekend ( if you are having one)

Nothing much happening here, My friend came around yesterday and Charlotte keep saying DaDa for about 1 hour Tim thought it was very cute, My mum also had Madison over night on Sat night and brought her home around 5 pm yesterday so the house was very quite. Charlotte's still trying to get up on to her knees but can not get it just yet.

Carls- bugger about the long post, I hope you can get to play group this week.

Fee- Another cute picture of Cooper. How has Cooper been the last few nights? I have been getting Charlotte up to feed her, I don't want her getting upset during the night, and if I get up to feed her, we are only up for 15 mins max.

Whats everyones babies having for breakfast at the monent? We are trying the Heinz banana ceral, she is not that keen on it, I found a recipe for oats with banana, so i might try making that for her. Also how many sleeps are your bubs having during the day? Charlotte is having a really long morning sleep 2 1/2-3 hours and then a short one in the afternoon.

Cooper had a bad night on Saturday night. We went to Mark's parents for dinner and we gave Cooper his dinner and bath there as well. We tried to put him to sleep in the portacot at his usually 6.00 pm time. He hadn't slept since 12.30 pm that day so should have been tired. But he screamed and screamed. Plus it was so hot in the room he was in. Dinner was being served so we ended up bringing him out to the deck while we had dinner. He just sat in his highchair and watched us eat. He was actually pretty good. He yawned at times and rubbed his eyes but overall was pretty happy, clapping away and looking at the candles and fairy lights etc. So he stayed awake until 8.00 pm!!! He fell asleep pretty much the second we pulled out of their driveway to go home.

But then he woke at 11.30 pm doing his screaming thing. Mark couldn't calm him and even I had trouble. We can be cuddling him and he still screams. I ended up feeding him. I'm starting to think maybe he is actually hungry?!?! I decided then that if he keeps doing this then I'm just going to feed him straight away instead of trying to re-settle him. Although I just don't know how to tell if he is actually hungry or if it's just that the breastfeed soothes him and calms him down. We are going to buy a night light to see if that helps at all.

I took Cooper to the doctor yesterday just to rule out the possibility of an ear infection. He's fine. I was just a little worried as he's all raspy and husky in his voice. Doctor said it's probably from crying/screaming so much. Poor Cooper – I feel terrible. Maybe he has been hungry and I've been trying to re-settle him for up to 1 hour when he's starving - poor little thing. Who knows. I'm so confused.

He's still husky today. Poor little man. But guess what?! He actually slept well last night – like normal. :dance: From 6.30 pm to 5.00 am without a peep. And then after the 5.00 am feed we both slept a bit more until 6.30 am. I hope he's back to normal for good.

I wrote a bit post about his screaming fits in the General Baby Discussion. I have been so worried about it.

Anyway aside from sleeping he's doing well. Pulling himself up to standing on some things now! Babbling a lot but not many words. He hasn't hasn't said "mama" or "baba" again and he's never said "dada". Although it sounded like he made the "da" sound yesterday. He claps all the time now. Very funny. And he's getting much faster at crawling.

carlys – Well Cooper's ears are fine. He's totally healthy so that's good to know. I hope Georgia is nearly 100% better.

kmh – Cooper usually has 3 cubes of fruit and some Farex Mixed Cereal (6 month one) for breakfast. One day I tried rolled oats and he seemed to like that too.

As for naps. Sometimes 3 per day and sometimes 2. Depends what time he wakes up. Cooper doesn't really have any routine. Every day is different! Some days he has short naps and other days they are long. He's all over the shop!

Hi girls

How are we all? Dylan and I are good and have been quite busy what with Mothers group, Gymbaroo, house renos, etc. It is very hard to find time for me in amongst all this stuff.

Dylan is commando crawling and getting quite good at it too and we need to watch him all the time. He is saying mama, dada, baba, nana, rara and has said a baby version of hello to us a couple of times. He is trying to clap but just puts his hands together and looks very rpud of himself. He is also doing this mexican wave type of thing where he throws his arms up in the air and we say hooray and he will do it over and over and just grins when we say hooray.

He is still not sleeping through and is still feeding once overnight and some nights wakes all night, sigh! We usually get up around 7 ish and he goes down about 7 ish but has wake ups during the night.

Oh I wanted to do personals but bubs has just woken up. Bye bye all hope everyone is good.

Cassie - I've been thinking about taking Danielle to Gymbaroo. Is it good?

Fee - Danielle's pulling herself up onto everything too. She did it on my auntie's couch yesterday and today she pulled herself up on her play pen at work here. She loves walking around holding our hands too. Sounds like Cooper is going thru what Danielle was not sleeping thru and waking and screaming for no reason. She finally grew out of it - I'm sure Cooper will too. I want Danielle to start clapping hands so Ken and I do it with her all the time now. I'm putting down Danielle's first word as 'dada'. Now I'm starting on saying 'mama' heaps now. Thanks for the baby food ideas. Danielle loved the Potato and Spinach Mash but I've added a bit of cottage cheese in it, the apple and chicken (she has a bit of these for dinner) and the beef stew but I've adde extra vegies corn and peas.

Kel - Danielle is having weetbix for breakfast and if she wants afterwards she has some fruit. Today is banana which she's feeding hersel and loving it!! As for sleeps she only has 2 sleeps a day normally ranging from 1/2 to 1 1/2 hours at a time but her night sleep is from 8pm to 7am without waking so I can't really complain. And wet nappies - every change it's wet,

Carlys - I tried the olive oil but it didn't really work. I tried the other night just leaving some shampoo on whilst she was sitting in the bath, washed it off and then combed her head gently and it removed heaps so I'll keep doing that. I hope her ear infection is getting better.

Danielle had her 8 month checkup on Friday. She's now -
8.8kg
71cm long
44cm head
She's sitting on the 75th percentile for head and length and just under for weight - one big girl!! The MCHN also said I can start giving her other things to eat like baked beans (great lunch idea with a piece of bread - also helps with poos - sorry!!), cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, normal cheese, sandwiches (she loves vegemite sandwiches), adult yoghurt, weetbix for breakie - pretty much everything except cow's milk. She also said that she's excelling in her development and don't be surprised if she's walking at 10 months - eekk!! She loved feeding herself. On Sunday while we were out I gave her fingers of a vegemite sandwich and she ate almost 2 sliced of bread all by herself. She loves eating grapes, banana and everything with her fingers. On the weekend I'm going to cook some vegies and small pieces of meat and let her feed herself and see how she goes. She loves food. This morning she ate 1 weetbix and 1 banana - lunch is baked beans and a sandwich and dinner is the spinach mash with chicken and apple. I could even eat it all - sounds yum to me.

Better run - haven't done much work yet. Danielle's rolling around in her play pen quietly so I better do something. Have a great day!!

Mads - I use formula for Danielle's breakfast. She's been a formula baby most of her life - I had a lot of trouble BF and she rejected the breast after getting a bottle. Tried EBM for ages but gradually I dried up. I wanted to BF her longer but that's the way the cookie crumbles. If you can you could use breastmilk or you could use just cooled boiled water and just add a little fruit just so it doesn't taste so cardboardy. I'm wondering if you could use soy milk? I'm not sure - maybe something we can investigate.

Hi All,

I got Charlotte weighed this morning, a BIG gain of 130 grams for the week, yay, if it was any less them 100 grams we were off to see the pead, So now at 7 months and 3 weeks she weighs 7.050, still so little, but she is going to be little I think. We now just have to get weighed once a week for a month, to see what she is doing. I think she gained heaps as she is waking heaps again over night, grrrrrr, but we are off to sleep school next tuesday, so hopefully I will be able to get some more sleep after then.

Bubs- I actually made my own breakfast for Charlotte with some bananas and oats and then mixed with farex and she likes this, it actually is really nice. Wow Danielle eats heaps, I think Madison ate that much too, but I really can not remember as it was a little while ago.

Mads- How is Freya sleeping now that she is in her own room, I bet you are sleeping a bit better too.

OH man, I came home from school today and Heidi told me to watch Corban. The little bugger took off crawling. Like the rest of you with a mobil little one, we are having to create blockades to deal with this. We had to block of the electronics (vcr/DSS reciever, etc) because he goes for that. On top of missing his first crawl, he is determined to say "mama" not "dada". Oh well!

Hi all

Well it seems Cooper is going back to normal at night and is sleeping through until 5.00 am. We then both go back to bed until around 7.00 am. We're starting to move to 4 hourly breastfeeds (4 times a day) and 2 naps. I'm finding that Sleep/Feed/Play no longer works for us – it just doesn't time out right. I still find 4 BFs and 3 solids hard to juggle. I think once we're down to 3 BFs it will be a lot easier.

We don't have a routine as such though – I sort of just follow Cooper's lead and watch the clock a little. So every day is different. Yesterday he had a big nap from 10.00 am to 12.00 pm but today that nap was only 10.00 am to 11.00 am.

Do you guys follow a strict routine, loose routine (sort of created by baby) or absolutely nothing? Are some of you demanding feeding? How many BFs to you give a day?

Cooper is still having trouble self-settling … but not all the time. I think this is why it's so frustrating for me. Because I know he can do it! Like for this morning's nap he went to sleep easily. Sat up in his cot and played around a bit but then lay down and went to sleep. But just now he has screamed and screamed – I had to go in numerous times and then pat him to sleep. I am sure he was tired – I saw tired signs and also he'd been awake for over 3.5 hours. :wall:

Guess what I'm doing on Friday? Meeting up with some BB mums and babies! :) No one from our July group is from Brisbane are they??? Bummer.

Cassie – Dylan is very clever saying all those words! Cooper babbles heaps and has said two words but he hasn't said them that many times. So he just babbles a lot. That's it!

Bubseykel – OMG Danielle eats such grown up food! Cooper is still just eating vegie mashes, fruit mashes and some beef (he tried chicken and didn't seem to like it much). The only finger food I have given him is banana. Oh and a bit of cucumber. I still want to break of small bits and give it to him though. I'm scared he'll bite off too big a chunk! I hate when he gags. It's scary. I'm going to introduce yoghurt soon. At Cooper's 7 month check up at the clinic I asked the MCHN about cheese and she said Cooper was too young. So confusing, as a book I have says dairy from 7 months is okay. Anyway I'll probably start it all from 8 months. I'm also not sure about wheat as I have read conflicting stuff on this too – 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months and the WHO says 12 months! Crazy.

Mads – Sounds like your house is all nice and organised now. Well done! Cooper's voice is sounding sort of normal again, thank goodness.

kmh – Yay for Charlotte's weight gain. You must be so relieved.

Dustmite – Go Corban go!!! I bet he's into everything now. Cooper loves the bathroom and always wants to stick his fingers down the drain hole in the floor. So now we keep that door shut.

Fee- If I was in Brisbane I would love to come and meet you and Cooper, but sorry, unless one day we go to Queensland or you come down here, we will just have to keep chating on BB.

Also I still demand feed, and sometimes she will go 4 hours but sometimes she still needs a feed to fall asleep, and I still follow Charlotte in what she wants, but I guess that will change next week as we are going to sleep school.