Babies Born June 1st - 15th 2008

[leesha]

Ok girls I have added you!!

Awsome to put faces to the names hey!!! Our babies aren't babies anymore......boohoo.....

[leesha]

Well its a bit quiet around here isn't it???

Hope you and bubs are all well.

I have a question which I may start a thread about to get some ideas but with the big first birthday coming around very quickly what are you buying your little ones?? I am finding it a very hard decision!
I would like to buy him something he can keep as a momento of the big 1st birthday and a little something else he can just play with.

I know he will be spoilt by the rest of the family but I am struggling with ideas for a meaningful pressie??????????????

[skye+cammi]

hi

it is very quite in here

i am having the same problem not knowing what to get...
well cammi is well she is walking so she is keeping me busy she is almost starting to run..
we have been sick but better now so i havent had a chance to come on here
how are all your bubs going?
i cant believe they are nearly one time has gone so fast!!

[amyhunz]

Hi girls,

Yes, very quiet in here but I guess that's a good thing. Maybe everyone's happy and busy, busy

Poor Gracie's not getting any party at this rate We can't make it to Sydney for a party with friends and family, and being still the 'new' ppl in town, we're light on friends...boo, hoo! Anyway, I'm sure I can whip up a cake for the photos...Gracie will never know

I don't think we're going to get her anything for her birthday. She gets so much stuff from her relatives that she doesn't really need anything. But I've told my parents to get her a Smart Trike. They can be used from now so I think that'll be good.

So what are you girls planning on the party front?

[Mirandabelle]

Hey everyone! We just moved house and have only just got back online.

I'm planning Zeke's party at the moment, just a small thing with a couple of friends of ours who have kids and his grandparents I think.

We're planning to get him a push-toy for his birthday, one that converts into a cart that he can put his toys in and drag when he's bigger as his big gift. Other than that, maybe a couple of clothes or something.

I know he'll get heaps of stuff from his aunties and other family anyway, so I'm going easy on the presents!

Zeke's doing great, he recovered well from his surgery, those on Facebook can see his pictures, he looks like a different boy! He's walking now too, he still falls from time to time, but can pretty much get up and run around whenever he'd like... I'm not ready for this!

[MummyPig]

I am sooooo slack with this lately! Sorry!!

Happy birthday to Zeke and Grace - hope they both had lovely days and that their mummies enjoyed them too

We're not planning anything for Freyja, but her daddy has taken the day off so it's a long weekend for us and he's also going to take her to her swimming class for the first time. She'll be so excited!

I managed to find her a wooden dolls' crib from in the Salvo's for $10 that I've rubbed down and cleaned up. It looks really cute and I've just used Freyja's old moses basket bedding in it. She's going to love it because it rocks and she has a doll that we bought with us from the UK that talks when you press it's tum, so I hope it will be a hit.

Her grandma bought her a ride on, but it's really crappy!! We've put it up for her, but fully expect it to fall apart quickly!

Other than that, I will make her a baby sponge cake to eat and will put a candle in it, but that's her birthday as planned.

On the progress front, no walking as yet but she's trying. She's been standing unsupported for 2 months now, but only just started to take steps yesterday. I'm so jealous of you Miranda as I can't wait for Freyja to walk!

She is becoming increasingly independant and wants to feed herself, but can't quite get the fork control right. Nappy and clothes changes are usually a nightmare because she screams and thrashes. In fact, she's discovered screaming is fun and will scream at the top of her lungs for no reason! Means car journeys can be a nightmare and going out for a coffee and cake at the weekend is embarassing.

Anyone else's todds doing this? Any ideas when it stops?

We have lots of attempts at words, kissing, cuddling, waving, pretend play with her tea set and pretending to talk to her dad on the phone. That is really the sweetest thing! Freyja loves in the night garden and does the little finger in the palm of her hand thing when her dad puts on the news instead of her program in the morning to let us know what she wants. It's really cute

She's also started to shake her head for no, but hasn't mastered nodding for yes yet. The other day a woman said to her 'aren't you a cutie?' and Freyja pouted and shook her head. Was soooo funny.

What else...? Oh, we're completely off milk now. I worked at getting her off the formula and onto cows milk slowly from when she was about 10 months. Worked a treat and then I tried to replace the bottles with sippy cups so she was on them at 12 months. Freyja has other ideas though and won't drink milk from a cup, but I'm perservering. Means she has one bottle of milk, 150mls, before bed and that's it. I was worried until I realised it's not the milk she needs, but the calcium, so I'm trying to make it up other places.

How's the booby / bottle / sippy feeding going for you all these days?

Anyway, gotta go again as I'm freezing half to death in here and need to put some warm socks on. Or get the eletric blanket off the bed and wrap myself in it perhaps...

I need full updates on all of you and your bubs, plus any other news that I've missed. I promise to be slightly less bad at keeping in touch from now on

[leesha]

OK for those of you on facebook you will see that Taj started walking late on Saturday...it just clicked and off he went!! Still very tottery but its walking so I am one proud mumma at the moment!!

He then decided tonight to do his first ever Poo in the bath which was totally gross and leaves me wondering what else he will come up with this long weekend???

Taj is now dancing when I sing a particular song which is pretty cute and clapping is his most favorite thing to do..I tell him NO and he claps at me and laughs....So of course I laugh too!!!

Just bought him a Smart trike for his birthday(one of those bikes you push them around with a handle and then it converts two more ways as they grow and they end up riding it themselves) and his party is on the 20th with lots of family and friends coming over to our house for a party!!!

My mums best friend made my fisrt birthday cake 31 years ago and made our wedding cake a couple of years back..and is making Taj's birthday cake so that is very sweet and special!!!

Good to hear from you Kerry..wondered what had happened to you? Glad to hear all is well!!!

Taj is on 2 sometimes 3 bottles a day and I have been mixing formula and Cows milk together for that last few weeks. He will not drink milk from anything other than he's bottle. Don't know why but it is frustrating me!!! He will drink water from his sippy cup no worries but nothing else!! They are very clever these little people!!!

Nappy Change and Clothes time is exactly the same here too....Taj just screams and wriggles and tries to roll over and sit up. It has been happening for the last two months and drives me insane.I dread nappy change time and have tried everything to distract him but nothing works....I thought he would get over this phase but still no light at the end of the tunnel....I found out that when changing clothes if he sits up I have no problems so I guess it must be a lying down thing that they hate..Too independant now!!

Gotta go and turn on the electric blanket ready for bed as it is freezing tonight..I hate this cold weather!!!!!!!

[amyhunz]

Wow it's been really quiet in here...too much going on!

We had a great birthday...nothing flash. We actually didn't get Grace anything (slack parents!) but her family and friends made up for it. She did get a cake - just a Number 1 with pink icing and smarties. She enjoyed licking the beaters...she probably didn't know what hit her. I think it's the first real 'bad' thing I've given her! Oh well, if she can't have a treat on her birthday, when can she?!

We're down to 2 milks feed/ day - morning and night. Experimented today with one day sleep because she's been refusing her PM sleep all week. Doesn't really cry, just plays and sometimes whinges but never sleeps! So come 6pm she's beside herself. Anyway, she did 1.5hrs and that was it! I'm going to keep persisting because I've heard it can take them a while to get the hang of doing a long sleep. Anyone else having 2 sleep dramas?

Grace isn't walking either. Like Freja, has been standing unassisted for a few months but no step yet! I have a newphew who's 21months and still not crawling so I'm not stressing yet.

OK. With the whole changing nappy, meal time antics, tantrums, leg clinging etc. I reached a point where I thought 'That's it. This kid's got a number on me!'. So I decided to do some reading and it just so happened that Sheyne Rowley's book FINALLY came out. 'Dream Baby Guide' for older babies and toddlers. IT'S PURE GOLD. I went from having a baby who faught me at every nappy change (yes, I used to dread them too!) to a baby who happily lies there for as long as I need. It IS possible! The crux of it is, PERSISTENCE, PATIENCE, LOADS OF POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT (even when they're fighting you all the way) AND NOT ACKNOWLEDGING THE NEGATIVE TOO MUCH (or at all). She also talks through some distraction methods - the one that works best with Gracie is singing. I won't do her philosophy justice in this one paragraph but go and buy or borrow the book and read it for yourself. I can't tell you how it's changed Gracie's behaviour.

Anyway, I think that's it from us! Happy birthday all round...

[Mirandabelle]

Hi all,

Just a quick note here as I need to get someone into bed. He's usually very good about it, but has other ideas at the moment, as he's had an ear infection this past week and is just now starting to feel better so doesn't want to go to bed.

We're having a party for Zeke next weekend, just a BBQ lunch with a few family, his godparents & our mums group friends. I'm cheating and ordering an uniced mudcake from the Cheesecake Shop so I don't have to bake it, just decorate. Normally I bake, but with what I want to do (pics will go on FB) I need a good cake that's not sunk in the middle, and my oven's a bit weird, so rather not take any chances.

Zeke is getting too smart for his own good. He can say dada, mama, no, more, banana (nana) and duck, but he doesn't always use them in the right places. I'm still dada sometimes!

Changes are shocking here too... he fights with everything he has and he's really quite strong! I have to do it very quickly, or get my partner to help keep him still. Sometimes giving him a bottle can help, but a lot of the time I spend more time flipping him back over so he can't get away than I do actually changing him!

I've tried a few different sippy cups for Zeke but he can't seem to get the hang of tipping it enough to get the liquid up. He's fine laying down with a bottle, but he'd rather drink straight out of my cup. He still gets formula in bottles, but has cows milk with cereal, yoghurt and cheese, so I'm not too worried about him missing out on calcium. He doesn't seem crazy about cows milk to drink by itself anyway.

Anyway... I really need to try and get this boy off to bed!

[skye+cammi]

hello everyone,

first happy birthday to all the little ones hope it was good,we just had a few family members over in the afternoon pretty quite but cammi had a ball and had alot of fun eating her cake lol.

i have been so slake lately and havent been on here for awhile.

i actually dont have any problems dressing cammi she likes to help me by putting her arms in her shirts herself and her legs in her pants as for nappy changing she loves to run of as soon as it comes off so i let her for a little bit then she will lay down for me.
i have a question im going to try and wean cammi off the breastmilk of a day and wanted to know what would be the best milk to give her wasnt to sure about going straight onto cows milk alot of ppl have diff opinons.

[amyhunz]

Happy birthday Cammi! Wow...can you hardly believe where the past year has gone?!

A BIG congrats to you for BF for so long What a great effort. There is alot of differing opinions out there about cow's milk. I guess each bub tolerates it differently. Gracie's still on Stage 2 formula because Toddler milk has a fairly high sugar content.

A few close friends swapped their bubs onto cow's milk at 12months and they started night waking. It stopped as soon as they reverted back. So I've been hesitating to go there. But if you don't want to introduce formula, test her on cow's milk in the morning and see how she goes. Different guts will react differently. It may not bother her at all.

Anyway, good luck!

[Mirandabelle]

Where has time gone? We have had such a busy week with Zeke's party & being unwell. I'm cheating and copy/pasting from my blog, to update you all, but it's 1/4 to midnight & I need some sleep!

Zeke is doing much better now, although he is still snotty & coughing a bit. He developed a slight fever on Fri night, but seemed okay on Sat morning, so we went ahead with his party, although of course once everyone arrived he was obviously not 100%, and was very tired - he didn't even have any cake!

By Sat evening he was feverish again and started refusing bottles, he was also restless and sleeping poorly though some paracetamol had helped lower his fever. He woke up around 2am and cried non-stop, absolutely nothing we did could settle him, so we decided his ears might be infected again so we took him down to the ER of the children's hossy where he had his op.

Of course he turned into Mr Personality again once we were there, smiling and flirting, but the Dr said he was obviously not well, his throat was a bit red, his ears were a little sore, and generally everything was a bit off. She Dx a general virus and told us to take him home and to push fluids, and lots of love, and to go to the GPs on Monday if he was still unwell.

Sunday was generally sleepy as we'd gotten back from the hossy at 6.30am, not to mention being pooped from his party, and he was fairly good that night. However when he woke at 7.30am Monday, had a bottle & went straight back to bed, I knew he still wasn't better. He woke again at 10.30, had 3oz, a nappy change, and then picked up hs dummy, laid down on my lap and went to sleep - just like that, after only 20 mins of awake time. He woke again at 12.30pm, and repeated the same routine and was very lethargic & dopey, not to mention hot, so I decided I wasn't happy, especially with how out of things he seemed, and to skip the GP and head back to the ER.

This time he was definitely sick & they pushed us through in Cat 3 (they triage patients in 5 categories 1 being not breathing, 5 being "you could have seen your GP") and a nurse saw us right away, and said he'd try and get us seen ASAP, when he saw that Zeke was spiking at 39.8 (103.6 F). Zeke just flopped on our chests, and did almost nothing. The Dr who saw us was lovely, & said we'd done the right thing to bring him in, as lethargy + fever can be very serious.

Thankfully it wasn't serious, still a virus, which had to get worse before it got better and a big dose of paracetamol began to ease his fever almost immediately. The Dr also wanted a urine sample, so we had Zeke without a nappy on for over an hour, bribing him with Pedialyte, chocolate milk, gatorade and cordial to try and get him to produce something. He got pretty cranky being in the little cubicle, so we thought we'd test out karma for a little, giving Zeke the chance to pee on us in public - we walked around the ER station for 20 mins with him only in a onesie, Ryan following along with a cup just in case and nothing!

However the Doctor decided that given how well he was responding to just the paracetamol that there probably wasn't a UTI as well, and sent us home, saying if he wasn't improving in the morning to persevere with the sample & take it to the GP for testing & ABs if needed.

Fortunately Zeke went straight to bed when we got home & barely woke the whole night, waking late on Tuesday morning & acting like a new baby! He's been steadily improving ever since, even stuffing down almost a whole pancake for breakfast this morning!

I've delayed his 1year shots this week though, as he's still a bit unwell today. I'm hoping to get them done next week when they're back at the centre I'm familiar with. (They do weekly rounds at each maternal child health centre in our local area) but I will obviously wait as long as possible, and go to a different centre if need be.

And now... his birthday! I haven't uploaded pics yet, as there are a lot of other things I need to do here, so many unread blogs and emails! It was great, a lot of work, but a huge success, lots of fun & laughter. The cake looked AMAZING, I am so proud of myself. We of course have enough toys to start a toy store & enough books to start a children's library, but I am trying to space out discovering them, so there's something new for Zeke to do each time he gets bored with something he has had for a while.

And now an update on Zeke seeing as I've been lazy and not done a proper update - he was weighed on his 1year birthday.

Weight: 9.8kgs (21 lbs 9 1/2 oz) but just 10 days later when he was weighed in the ER has stacked up to 10.3 kgs (22 lbs 11oz) still a lightweight, but gained 500g so fast!

Height: 75cms (29.5 inches - my baby is almost 2 1/2 foot tall!)

He is running almost everywhere, I don't think he crawls anymore unless it is over the top of Ryan or I when we are playing! He picks things up and carries them too. We got him a push along toy thing for his birthday, and he only just worked out how to push and walk along behind it today - until now he's been carrying it everywhere! I think there's a photo somewhere on my camera.

Zeke has learned a new word and he is obsessed with it - "duh" which means duck. He has a few books with ducks in them now, and he will keep bringing the books to us demanding "duh duh duh!" until we open it to the right page to show him. He even knows which book has ducks on 3 different pages, and won't stop until he's seen all 3!

There's even a book which I was convinced didn't have one on it, and yet Zeke was pushing the book on my lap, slapping it and going "duh duh duh!" and I'm trying to divert to another book that I know has a duck in it. But Zeke was smarter than me, finally he takes the book over to Ryan, who looked where Zeke was pointing (and I thought he was just banging the book, bad mummy!) and there it was, his precious "duh!" barely an inch high on the back cover!

When the TV had some white geese (which for all intents and purposes are just big ducks) & goslings, which if I hadn't known better would have thought were ducklings, on it this morning, his proud "DUH!" and pointing was just too cute for words! I think it's time to rug up & head to a lake to see if we can't find some "duh" for real to feed. Zeke's good at throwing things, so I expect will be great with bread - as long as he doesn't eat it!

Well that's where we're all at. Skye - congrats on making 1 year of BF! Zeke is still on stage 2 milk, and will be for a little while, we got a really good deal on 6 cans, so we're finishing that off first before we transition to cows milk.

There will be a lot of differing opinions about what to do for Cammi... she should be fine on cow's milk, but if your gut tells you to move to formula, then do that. We have mummy instinct for a reason.

Anyway, better be off to bed! I am pooped!

[leesha]

Hey guys so quiet in here hope everyone is well!! I'm sure we are all just madly running around after the little ones! Taj is climbing on everything and driving me nuts with his tantrums when he wants his own way!!!

I've gotta question tho...He is just on cows milk now and has been for a little while. Just has the 1 bottle at night before bed. Doesn't seem interested in milk during the day from his sippy cup...just water...he luuurves water! The last week he is refusing to have his bottle before bed so he isn't having any or just 30ml of cows milk a day.

Is this ok do you think? I've read that they actually don't get any nutrients out of cows milk, they need an adequate amount of dairy daily. He has cheese and yogurt everyday and milk on he's cereal.

Anyone experiencing the same thing or have any advice??

Also just wanted to let you know bubs number 2 is on the way!! 3 months tomorow so Taj is going to be a big brother!! Woo hoo

Anyone else with some exciting news???

[amyhunz]

Yes we're 18 weeks!!! We go for our 2nd scan soon but won't find out the sex. HB wants a surprise and I'm ok with that.

I haven't introduced cow's milk at all - just a personal decision. Still on Stage 2 which has alot of the required nutrients etc Having said that, I'm lucky if she'll take 100mls per day. She's just not interested in her milk ATM. But loves water like Taj!

I think if you're offering other dairy supplements such as yohurt, cheese etc, which you are, I wouldn't worry too much about the milk.

I can't believe how big our kids are!!! I never thought I'd be pregnant again this soon but it's funny how things change...

[amyhunz]

BTW - CONGRATS Leesha!!!

[Mirandabelle]

Wow! Congrats to you both! I'm still convincing SO we're ready for #2.

Leesha, as long as Ty has the recommended amount of calcium (I forget how much, I think 600mg, but not sure) it doesn't matter where it comes from, cheese, yoghurt, milk wherever. As long as he has plenty of other options for calcium during the day he'll be fine. Your Dr or health nurse can always give you the right figures if you are concerned.

The other thing to remember is all the numbers Dr's give about how much of a particular nutrient your baby should have is an average. You should aim for it each day, but there are some days when your baby just won't eat, or will only eat bread, or wants only bottles. As long as the majority of the time the needs are met, there's no need to stress about an "off" day.

Zeke is the opposite to Taj and Gracie, he will drink almost no water because he prefers milk, he will go through over a litre on hot days. Thank goodness he's not on formula anymore, that would get expensive!

Otherwise we're doing really well, he's running everywhere, and is just starting to work out he can climb on things. We've got quite a few words, and a lot of animal noises, he can woof, buzz, hiss, roar and make an elephant noise!

[leesha]

That's great news Amy!! I didn't put it on facebook cos there is a few people I didn't want knowing just yet so I thought I would let you guys know thru belly belly!! How exciting to do it all again hey!!

I guess he's getting enough calcium thru his cheese fetish and yoghurt on most days!! I'm not too worried but was just curious to see what your little ones were doing!!

OMG we had a breakthru last week and we now get TA every time he wants something which is nice!! Except it comes out DA!!!!

Miranda I am over the climbing thing! We have had so many falls off the couch this week!! We bought a house a month ago so we are in the process of packing to move out next week and Taj is climbing on all the boxes...driving me bonkers!!!

[amyhunz]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd put a post out there and see how many of us are still around this forum these days?

How's everyone going? Surviving the heat? My sympathies to the Melbournians and Victorians :-(

Here's a quick update from me. Wow, it's been ages since we posted! I'd love to hear about your precious ones.

Food: Doing ok. Will eat pretty much anything but doesn't eat much. I've recently cut out all biscuits cause she started to become like a broken record asking for 'bikky' all the time. So now we're on fruit for snacks and whatever HB and I eat for dinner. Bfast is 1 weekbix with yoghurt plus some toast and lunch is generally an egg with peices of whatever's going (chicken, ham, vegies etc) I'm a bit lazy making meals for her. Sometimes it's spaghetti out of a jar (esp during pregnancy when certain foods make me want to gag).

Milk: Down to about 150mls before bed. Not really interested overall. Still on Stage 2 formula.

Sleep: I can't complain here. 12hrs overnight and an average of 2hrs during the day. I'm going to miss unbroken sleep in a few weeks time!

Temperament: Gracie's a really outgoing little girl. She'll smile and say 'hi' to anyone and everyone. She's very busy and likes company rather than playing by herself - she especially likes to be outdoors but has recently taken to a few TV programs, namely 'In The Night Garden' (weirdest show ever!) and Play School. She can be very strong willed and I've had to remind myself that I'm the parent many times :-)

Development: Walked at 12/13 months and now runs! Talks the house down and will attempt any word really. The talking has made it easier re: tantrums in recent months as she's able to express herself with words.

Activities: I'm really interested to know what you guys are doing with your LOs during the day. I struggle to be creative but hate resorting to TV all the time for an entertainment solution. Here's what I've tried - playdough, painting/ drawing, building blocks, Shape-O, sandpit/ waterpit, park, indoor swimming, puzzles, TV, building cubby houses, playing with her doll's pram....?

Any ideas would be excellent!

I'm trying to structure her days a little more with the view that it'll help when #2 comes along. For example, giving her specific independent time in her room with activities/ books, high chair activities etc - things that will help me breastfeed for example and not have her running riot :-) I've had to do this because she won't naturally play by herself.

Anyway, that's where we're at. Hope you're all well and happy!