Babies Born March 2007 #9

Sarah - how cute is Ari on her hands and knees? Nicholas is getting there, he does pushups, but can't quite work out how to get up onto his knees. He does move around quite a bit though, and when I left him alone for a minute, he had wiggled his way to the other side of the room! I hope Ari settles for you soon. Nic has had a couple of bad nights, and then today, I finally felt a tooth! His bottom left one has come through. Poor little bubbas, I wish they didn't have to go through this pain with their teeth.

Karina - brave Claire with her needles. I have to take Nic next week. For his other needles, I book in with the GP and the nurse, so they do both legs at the same time. The GP prefers to do this so that he only cries once! He feels bad otherwise (the GP that is!!).

Cass - I have emailed you!

Caro - I have emailed you too!!!

Well, all is fantastic here. Nicholas is gorgeous, the girls are on holidays from tomorrow (YAY!!) and the weather is finally fining up. Couldn't be better really! Nicholas tried zucchini for the first time today, and loved it. So far, he has eaten everything I have given him. He cut his first tooth finally! I though it had come up about a month ago, but then it dissappeared. Now, it has definitley come through. It hasn't caused too much trouble for him though. He had a bad couple of nights, and has been pulling at his ear a bit. Not finishing bottles, but loving pear in his mesh thingie and rusks, so all is well. I can't wait to see him with a little tooth sticking up!

Take care and hi to anyone I have forgotten! xx

Karina, what a champ Claire is!!! Glad you mentioned needles though cos I have forgotten the past 2 days to ring up and book Oskar's!! I keep remembering when I'm feeding him and then forget again..lol. What a bummer about the pram! That's sooo something I'd do. I had a carrier like the baby bjorn but gave it away cos I just couldn't bear it after about 5 mins! Oskar was only like 5 weeks old too..lol. My lemon delicious didn't really work and I don't really know why! The cakey type part didn't work very well, it had the gooey bit on the bottom....oh and we did taste it and it was really quite sweet for something which has a bit of lemon in it, but at the same time did the lemon pucker thing to me...lol. The pixi foto... oh he looked soooo cute! If you don't want poses just tell them. They did one where he was sitting in a basket of teddies and it did look very cute. You can get piccies of you, hubby and bubs if you want ... you just let them know and get it as your first one if you're only planning on taking the free pic cos that is the pic you get ... you don't get to choose.

Sarah, it's soooo frustrating for us when they start to be more interested in EVERYTHING other than sleeping huh! Oskar has really gone off day naps and seriously it's hard to get him to sleep for more than 15/20 mins and by afternoon he's like a little feral from somewhere I don't know!! A few times he's actually slept for an hour and a half in the arvo.... wish this would keep happening cos then maybe I could have a nap :( Oh I've seen those airwrap things Caro is talking about and I will get one if he goes into his cot. Oskar is all better now thanks, so I'm very happy about that!!!

Jo, got it and will text you my number a bit later (if I remember to do that today). I haven't tried zucchini yet, but was thinking I have to try green veg cos so far he's only had orange veg. I LOVE the little tooth sticking up smiles... omg how cute are they.

My child....lol love that huh... nah... he woke at 4:30am this morning and decided he was NOT going to go back to sleep. I fed him and then he was just laying all over me chatting and kicking back... hmmmm not the right time sunshine...lol. He finally went back to sleep around 6 until 7:30 so I snuck about an hour for me!! He has days where he wants solids and then the next day he's like not on your nelly mum! It's hard cos I never know what I'm going to get..lol. He seems to be happy enough though so I'll try to remember to chat to my doc when we go for needles. Oh and Karina, I go to the doc and think I have to ask this, that etc and forget as well, so it's not just you! Best be off now, gonna go to the shops for a little wander :)

Just added the pixi pic to website... it's the last pic in the 4 - 6 month album...number 26.

ohhh Cass he is just gorgeous! and growing up so fast... just beautiful xoxo... Hehe Izzy does that in the morning will wake up have a feed then decide it's play time, but who could resist playing with her, when she shows that ever so gorgeous smile!!!

Jo- They look so gorgeous with a teeth sticking up :) Glad u an family are doing so well :)

Sarah - thanks hun, How is Ari? Her toothy peg through yet? Omg crawling! that is soo cute!

Karina - I had the same problem with my baby carrier, after she got to the 4month mark she was just way to heavy to be carried in it, would hurt my back something chronic...thats cute clare playing with the grass, izzy cant stand it she screams if i put her on it, mustnt like the feel~

Izzy has learnt a new trick~! she can drink from her tommee tippee cup all by her self! she was a bit reastless last night so i got the cup and put 100ml of formula in it, and gave it to her so she can occupy her self while i was eating dinner, (she was beside me in her chair) and she drank it all~!~!~ not only that she loved it!!! - Photo's up on photobucket

And we went swimming yesterday and had photo' s of izzy underneath the water and standing up on the teachers hands! i'm waiting for her to send them through to me, then i'll put them up on photobucket for you all to see~!

Hope everyone is well :)
Cass

2 more sleeps till me birthday :) :) :)

Hello ladies...

Firstly....let me say a massive congratulations :happyforyou: to you Cass....are you going to post a photo of your ring? Would love to see it. Also, Happy Birthday, for tomorrow.

Cass...sorry to hear about Monty but I am glad that he seems to be settling in well. Would have been an extremely hard decision but from the sounds of it definitely the right one.

Hello to everyone...it sounds like other than the occasional sniffly nose or teething issue that everyone is doing really well. Checking out all the photo's makes me realise just how quickly they are all growing up. I am so jealous of you that live in Qld, Sydney, Adelaide..probably even Perth...cause of the nice warmer weather you are having. I keep joking to DH that Grace and I are going to jump on a plane and go somewhere warm,...so over this cold weather. Now Qld is having above average temperatures..why couldn't that have been that case when we were up there!! lol!! I feel more alive and motivated to get out and walk when the weather is warm.

I have a feeling that we may not be breastfeeding for too much longer. Grace was being a really difficult feeder when we were out and about, popping on and off, looking around which makes it very difficult to be discreet...or she just wouldn't feed at all cause there was too much happening. So we made the decision that we would bottle feed her (with formula) when I was out. This was fine. Then this waking through the night business was getting out of hand so we started to give her a top up of formula after her last BF, which worked cause now she sleeps through. Except now, she intermittently flat out refuses to feed from me. I persist for up to 30 mins trying to get her to BF but she just cracks to poos, so I go and get her a bottle and as soon as she hears me shake the bottle, she stops crying and gets all excited and full of smiles!! Cheeky thing. I'm at the point where as long as she is feeding well and happy I don't care where she gets the milk from. We made it to 6 and a half months exclusive BFing and we are still Bfing, which I think is pretty damn good, but I admit that I am a bit sad that she may not want to BF anymore. The problem is sometimes she does sometimes she doesn't, so this will have to effect my supply at some stage and then she won't want to at all. I tried to express when she refused, but couldn't even get 20mls, and I am eating aktavite again. I don't really know what to do, or even if I should do anything but go with the flow. I know that if I keep giving in and giving her a bottle she is learning that if she kicks up she will eventually get a bottle, but honestly I don't want to fight with her anymore. I believe they say the first 6 months is the most important for BFing so I am comfortable knowing that she at least got that. I'm still waiting for her manual to arrive...must of gotten lost in the mail!! I suppose I just needed to let that out...thanls for listening.

Other than feeding drama's we are great. She sits independently now, I still put a triangle pillow around her just in case, but she sat up for an hour at mum's group the other day and didn't topple at all. I'm not sure about the teething thing. Somedays I thinks she is cause she is all grizzly and dribbly, pulling at ears, red cheeks. then the next day she is back to normal...so I have no idea really. I'm sure I'll know once I see a tooth!

Grace just gets into absolutely everything. She doesn't need to crawl!! She manages to get exactly where she wants to by rolling there. Can't leave anything lying around anymore.

Hope everyone has a great week. Take care.

HI all. Ari is... well Ari but other then that she is great. She took a couple of crawling crawls the other day and thought she was sooooo clever but hasn't repeated it yet.

Hey Rachel - it is really hard when they get older and things are more important that BF. I'll just give you my experiences not that they are the right way or anything, as you said you have done a super job and it's more important that you are both happy. When we are out Ari rarely has a BF because she just isn't interested if I do put her on she is on and off. I usually give her five min and if she doesn't latch on I put the boob away and she goes without. She generally isn't bothered by this and when she is really happy no matter where we are she will have a decent feed. We have a sippy cup now that we take when out if she is thirsty and we have rusks and baby fod on hand for when we stop for a snack. It is much easier when they are on finger food.

As for the formula, Ari occassionally has formula when DH wants to feed her. I hate expressing (as I had to so much with DS) After 6mths you can skip eeds all over the place and your milk shouldn't dry up. Having said that yes babies love bottles as it is much easier to feed from, they don't have to get a let down, they can look around and drink at the same time and it tastes different from the norm. So yes some babies will wean if given the choice. If it was me I would decide on maybe the bottle before bed if you want but the rest of the time she has to have BM at least ntil 12mths as it is soooo hard when you can't just pop them on the boob to settle them and you don't have a bottle handy. eg car breaks down, caught out at feed time without a bottle, bottle spills, forget bottle etc. I once was stuck on a train for 11hrs when DS was 11mths and thank god I was BF as we would have been up the creek otherwise.

Most important they do learn very quickly that if they don't feed properly they miss out (I think it took DS 2-3wks to work out feed or go without)

Rachel, Claire does the same thing with her feeds sometimes! I got told its totally normal for them to get distracted like that (esp at this age when they just want to be a prt of the action!), so dont think that you arent doing it right - you are doing great and Grace looks so gorgeous and well. Some days Claire will go straight on the booby and concentrate only on booby, but other times she'll go on and have a few sucks then pop off and look around, go back on for a few sucks and so on. She doesnt do it as much as she used to, so yes they probably do learn! It is rather frustrating (as you would know!) and can get pretty messy when she starts my milk flow then pops off to look at something. I do the same as Sarah. If she doesnt feed properly, I put booby away. I dont have formula, so its booby or nothing! She does crack the poos sometimes when I put booby away, but when I bring it back out, she usually feeds properly. Oh yeah Claire gets inot EVERYTHING too! She isnt quite crwling, but she can still move pretty quickly. I cant leave anything out. She'll find it and try to eat it. Claires doing the same thing with the red cheeks and ear pulling - She has been doing it for about a month now, so I've been telling everyone "i think she will get a tooth soon!" but it still hasnt happened. I suppose thats a good thing as I dont want her to bite me if I keep breastfeeding her.

My cousin is pregnant with her third baby, due in Feb. I remember her saying to me, just after Claire was born, that she would LOVE to have a girl (she has two boys already, 6 and 4 years old) and has just found out that she is having another boy. We (as in , the family) thought she'd have another boy. I think she was trying the "conceive a girl" diet, but it obviously didnt work for her!

We also caught up with Mothers Group on saturday for a picnic. It ws really nice to get outside for a while but they ALWAYS seem to have the mothers group outings right at the time that Claire wants to have a sleep, so she gets too grumpy half way through and we end up leaving early! The Dads came along as well, so that was nice for them to meet too. We had BBQ food and sat in the park by the water. Most of the other babies there have teeth, eat LOTS of solids and are no longer being breastfed, so I feel a bit .. differernt..? because Claire is toothless (but i love her gummy smile!), barely eats any solids and still has lots of booby.

On the topic of Solid foods, how is everyone going with that? Claire purses her lips shut so its so tricky to get her to have any at all. I think she is getting some (smellier poos).. she gets to excited when I get her into her chair and she sees me preparing her food - but most of the food always just ends up on her chin or all over the high chair, and then she gets the poos when I take the food away. We've tried farex, apple, pear, pumpkin, banana. I bought an avo the other day so I might try giving her some of that. Its still a bit green, so just waiting for it to go a bit more squishy before I give to her.

ok, thats all.

Cass, thanks :) They're all growing so fast huh... not little bubba's anymore :( Although I do love the new interaction and things that totally intrigue them at this age. Izzy looks so cute with her sippy cup!! So clever!

Rachel, Joshua was like that and went onto the bottle around 5 months... he seriously wouldn't feed properly. Part of it was me being 21 I think as well.. however, I'm happy with what I did for him. He LOVED the bottle and went straight onto it without a care in the world... Oskar though is a VERY different story, HATES it. Drank EBM once and he'll chew on it with water in it but nup, won't drink from it. So, I have no choice...lol. He does pop on and off at times too. I just said to Andy the other night he pops off to expose me to the world! I have my top ready in my hand to quickly pull down when he does this. I do the same as Sarah and Karina... put the boob away if he does it a few times. You have done a brilliant job feeding her and I do understand how you feel a bit sad about it all. Sometimes when I'm really busy it would be nice for Oskar to take a bottle but then part of me doesn't want him too cos I still love feeding him and it's soooo convenient.

Karina... the other day I was feeding Oskar outside in our yard and he pulled off and seriously got sprayed... doh!! Sometimes Oskar shuts his mouth with solids, I try a few more times then take it away. Other days he opens right up. I think part of it is texture with him... he likes the food really quite runny. He loves carrot. I think that's his fave. Quite liked the avo mixed with booby milk. Doesn't seem to like apple though... likes pear. The BBQ sounds like it was nice!! I know what you mean about feeling a bit different. Most of the bubs in our mothers group are rolling... and have or are getting teeth... and only about 3 others are still BF.... mind you I don't have to chase Oskar anywhere yet...hehe.

Caro, thanks hun... oh and yup Bright Bots... they have a Bright Bots factory outlet not too far from here and they had a $5 sale a few months back so I got him some things from there. The hat and the jumpsuit in that pic are both from there. I LOVE THAT HAT! The shoes in the pixi foto are Bright Bots as well...hehe. I love the colours they are.

Jo, got your email and have saved the number... will text you when I remember and it's not 5am there!! lol.

I pulled out a few things I still had from Joshua... clothes. This morning Oskar is wearing a jumpsuit with a hood on it from when Joshua was a baby. Oh so cute! We took a photo of him sitting with the hood on the same as I had of Joshua...hehe. He's sitting quite well on his own now and loves to have a look around from that angle.

Racheal!!! Thank you thank you thank you... i'll get a photo of the ring sometime today :)
Good job for bf for 6months... It sounds like she is weining her self...


Caro thanks :) the cup is a tommee Tippee cup, i bought it from coles, it has a soft silicone teat and is spill proof... Her sitting up at the beach is my fav...

Sarah - Oh clever lilttle ari!!! She will have to come and teach izzy some tricks...

Katrina - i feel weird at playgroup to as all the babies are getting bottles and izzy is showing off my booby to everyone! she doesnt like being descreet anymore i tell you she'll hope on an off likes it a game! lol...
izzy is doing very well at solids. but has been eating them for 2months now, the last 3 weeks she's just started 3 solid meals a day, she'l have ceral in morning, yogurt/custurd/fruit something like that in lunch, and vegies for dinner.

I have been a big worried about izzy lately. she wasn't wetting as much nappies as i'd like her too. but her wee's werent smelly and she was still hydrated...my boobs have had another growth spurt i think the older izzy getting the bigger the boobs are getting :) not that i am complaining :)

Izzy didn't sleep very well last night, she was up a few times with a nagging cough that just started over night, the poor thing the more she would drink the more she would cough also. So she is completely buggered now, and fast asleep on my bed...

And its my birthday today!!! And guess what my first present was - AF :( blaaaaaaaaa!!~!~!~ But i also got a box of roses, white diamond - elizabeth taylor perfume and a gold chain braclet all from my loving fiance :) And i can't decide weather to have sizzlers for dinner or cook silverside... hmmm! And my best friend - has forgotten its my birthday! but i'l forgive her since she has a newborn. :)

Oops... I meant to wish you a happy birthday before!! Sorry Cass.. .HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! You got some great pressies apart for the AF!! I'd do the Sizzler thing ;)

Hi girls...thank you so much for your caring and supportive words. It is exactly what I needed to hear. None of my friends BF so they don't really understand, although they do try. I have tried the bottle first, but she just won't BF. Today she BF this morning at 6am (took both sides), fed again at 9am (refused R side), refused to BF all together at midday after trying for ages, although I was out so that made it hard (gave her bottle), she refused to BF at 3pm but I didn't give in this time and she eventually had a bit of a BF but definitely not a decent one and still really funny on the R side, so just have to see how this last feed for the night goes when she wakes. It is really tiring me and I am starting to get to the point of not wanting to fight her, just as long as she is getting something. We'll see how we go but thanks again for your kind words.

Cass...sounds like you got some great presents, apart from AF (another reason why I am dreading for her to stop the BF as it will most definitely rear it's ugly head then)...I too would go Sizzlers, it's your birthday, who wants to cook on their birthday!

Cass...so true about the convenience of BFing...don't have to think about how long I will be out for when working out bottles etc. Also less to cart around, but all I care about now is that she is happy and thriving.

Karina...the picnic sounds wonderful. We too were talking about doing something like that with our mother's group. It was also suggested the other night that us mum's are going to go out for a night and leave the babies with partner's/baby sitters and have a night for us..I can't wait for this!

Grace is doing well with her solids although she is eating less solids since she has been having more bottles..she is probably getting more milk now than before so isn't as hungry. She opens her mouth wide open, but everyone in my mum's group has commented on that as their babies don't open so wide. She loves vegies more than fruit, took a while with fruit so maybe try more veges..loved sweet potato especially. We now give her sweet potato, broccoli, zucchinni, carrot, potato, green beans. She doesn't like pumpkin at all (can't blame her really!). She also prefers the texture to be a bit thicker and slightly lumpy. The fruit in the tins is too runny for her so we thicken it up with some rice cereal. She loves rice cereal. We tried her on baby yoghurt too which she seems to like. Fruit wise we have given mango, apple, pear, peach, apricot. She didn't like banana at all. Good luck, I'm sure she will get the hang of it.

Sarah..thanks for advice. It is more convenient that's for sure but she just won't feed otherwise and I worry about that too. Tried to email you the other day..have you changed your email address since we did that list with the belly buddies group?

Caro..have seen those necklaces, I have tried other distraction methods but they don't work either...or she gets distracted by them and stops feeding so that she can play with them instead!

Someone has just woken so gotta run..thanks again.

Hello again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASS!! Bummer about getting AF for a present... hope that the rest of your day was good though!

Everyone else - I can't remember what you all said, as it's been a while, and I had to read a bit to catch up, but it sounds like everyone is all good.

Emy is hilarious - she started to roll on her 3 month birthday, but hasn't really gotten past that, and, once placed, she can sit up on her own for ages. But the last couple of days, she has been sitting, flopped down, rolled onto her tummy, and then started to do the parachuting thing with arms and legs completely off the floor. Then she goes head down, and kicks with her legs and does this wierd little movement where one foot goes over the other, then the bottom leg is straight, and she kind of kicks with her foot, and ends up going in circles. And then somehow manages to also goes backwards a bit too. And I don't think that she really wanted to do either thing! I spend so much of the day laugh at/with her!

We took her for her 6 month needles today, and she only cried a little bit, and J picked her up first, and then when she came to me she had a huge smile. WHat a champion! The GP also weighed her, and she is now about 7kgs. My neighbour has a little boy 3 weeks younger than Emy, and he weighs about 9.5 kilos, and all of our other friends babies are reallly big, and they all reckon that Emy is tiny. She has the cutest thigh fat rolls though, and none of those other babies have them, and never really have...

we have been busy getting ready for my mum's 60th which is this Thursday. My eldest sister lives in Wodonga, and haven't been up since my wedding last February, and so she and her 2 kids are comeing up as a surprise for mum. I can't wait to see Mum's face! Will also be good coz my sister has never met Emy or my other sisters 16 month old girl, so we should have a lot of fun! Then next Wednesday (the 10th) it's my 28th birthday!!! YAY!!! Except we have no money because of Jason's stupid car, so boo hoo... I hpe that I get something little to unwrap though. I like surprises!

Big bummer... I have to go back to work in 2 weeks time... and I really don't want to. I will be doing Monday and Tuesday late shifts (1pm-9:30pm), and mum will look after Emy, but then she should be well and truely asleep by the time i get to mums, and i won't get to give her a kiss and a cuddle. My other problem is that I am still breast-feeding her, but have been giving her a midday bottle of formula for the last couple of weeks, and have just started to give her a night time one as well, to try to get my boobs a bit used to going back to work, and away form her, but when I leave her with mum, then she will have to have 3 bottles in that time, and I will only be giving her 2 BF in the morning, and I don't know if my boobs will be able to handle going from about 11am Monday morning through to abour 8 am Tuesday morning. (We usually dont' have any overnight feeds, coz Emy has been a fantastic sleeper). My problem is whether to switch over completely to formula or not. I really like breastfeeding her, but I don't know how she (and my boobs!) will go when she is getting 3 bottles a day... Guess I will just have to try it and see how she goes, and reassess the situation in a couple of weeks... And make sure i take some breast pads to works with me!(i haven't had to use them in AGES!)

ANyway, it is really late now so must really go to bed.

HAve fun!

Hi All, its been a while since I have had a chance to come on here, I hope everyone and their little ones are going well. Sam is starting to try and crawl but we go backwards at the moment and he rolls around, he loves being on his tummy. He is gaining really good control of his back, he's now able to sit up on his own for over a minute now. I had to do a cleanup of his drawers last night, he is into size 1 now, only some of his size 0 clothes still fit. He is just so long but I spose thats what happens when his daddy is 6FT4 and I am 5FT10!!
He had his first try of sausage the other night. I had some fat sausages for dinner and I thought he may as well have a go at them too, so I just got one and boiled it up until it was really soft and then all I had to do was drain the water and it mashed right up like potato! I served that up with the usual vegies and a bit of gravy, he couldnt get enough of it! And for last night we had bbq chook and salad so I just got a bit of chicken, the real soft middle bit and just broke it up with my fingers and put that in with his vegies and added a bit of chicken gravy. It was a big bowl and he ate the whole thing! If you are looking at giving your little ones something other than rice cereal for brekky, I have been giving Sam some weetbix, there is a kids one you can get, I just make it up with hot water as normal and add some of his formula and he loves it. Every now and then I also add some mashed banana, just for a different taste.
Take care all and I hope you all had a great long weekend!
Jen xxx

Rachel, I love pumpkin...lol.. but Joshua hates it! Oskar likes it too.

Ali, I think you may have to express somewhere in there!! That'd kill my boobs I know that much. Also, you're not wanting to drop those feeds when you're not at work by the sounds of it... ?? Tough spot to be in! Emy sounds so cute. Oskar makes me crack up sometimes too.

Hey Jen, great to see you again! I haven't tried any meat yet, still getting the hang of the fruit/veg thing..lol. Sam sounds like he's loving his food. Also eating everything will be great for you as he gets older. They look so cute when they're trying to learn to crawl and move around hehe.

I think that it could be time for Oskar to move out of his hammock into his cot! I noticed that in the morning he had started to kick both legs up in the air and then arch his back and twist his head around to look behind him... not very easy in a hammock... so the past 2 nights he has slept with me as we were seeing if that's why he's been waking early in the morning... like 4am. Well, he still woke then but Sunday night I just rolled him onto his side and he went back to sleep and woke at 6 for a feed. Last night he wouldn't go back to sleep so I fed him at 4 and he went back to sleep until 6:30... had a feed back to sleep around 7 until 9!! Yes, I did go back to sleep cos mum had been here for over a week so Andy hadn't been able to go to the spare room if Oskar woke early so I was getting sleep deprived as he won't go back to sleep in his hammock once he gets up! Anyway, this morning I noticed he would be on his back then he'd roll to his side and stay asleep. Oh and last night I'd put him down and Andy went upstairs and he was talking so he got him and I said... NO... you should've left him he wasn't upset...lol... so he put him back down and well you wouldn't believe it but he put himself back to sleep!!! I couldn't believe it! Anyway, now I have to work out how to fit the cot in our room cos I'm not ready for him to be in his room and also if he stirs I can get to him faster before he wakes too much. Andy was like... as long as he doesn't get too used to it and still won't sleep in his own room at 4!! Lol.. I said oh you don't want to argue this one with me...pmsl. I AM NOT READY! ahahaha... ok... gotta get some lunch now :D

Hey Cass - I have thought of that - but I can't really express at work, so Ill have to do it when i get back to Mums house at 10ish. however our feeds at the moment go:

Wakeup anywhere between 6:30 and 9: breastfeed (one side only)
2-3 hours later: breastfeed(one side only)
2-3 hours later: formula and vegies
2-3 hours later: breastfeed (one side only)
2-3 hours later (about 6:30-7ish): formula and bed

and then in the morning it has been ages since one boob has been fed from, but it isn't swollen or sore, so I don't know what's going on.

I have always only ever fed from one side - she has never really been interested in both sides... What do all you other breastfeeders do?

Cass, how cute about Oskar wearing Joshuas old outfit! Yah, I think I just feel out of place at mother group because they are all older than me and theyre always going on about "my degree this, my thesis that, blah blah phd" and so on, so I feel like theres not much in common except that we all have babies around the same age. My husband does the same thing with getting Claire when she is happy. Sometimes she'll be in the cot, slightly awake but still drowsy and he'll go pick her up, which fully wakes her up, then she'll want to have lots of attention and I'll be going 'no! i wanted to have a shower in peace! she would have gone back to sleep!!" LOL men.

Cass Blob, happy birthday!! Blergh about your first present, but yay on the other presents! Sizzler is awesome! I dont think we have them in Sydney anymore, but we used to go all the time for birthdays and stuff. Hope Izzy is not getting sick. Claire had one of those hacky coughs too. Poor thing!

Rachel, sounds like Grace loves her solids! If only I could get Claire to eat that much! Hope you can continue breastfeeding, if thats what you want, but you did really well to get to 6 months. It seems like most of the ladies in my mums group stopped bf before 6 months. I like the sound of leaving Claire with DH while I go out. I did leave her with him when I went out with some of the bellybelly girls in sydney. It was nice, not that I dont like looking after her (i love her!!) but sometimes I just want a bit of time for me to do my own thing.

Ali, how cute about Emy going around in circles! Heheh I get told the same thing - people all say Claire is tiny (about 6.7kg) but she has heaps of fat rolls on her thighs and arms, and also a few extra chins, lol. I was also supposed to go back to work in about a month for 2 days a week, but I've decided not to. I want to get Claire more established on solids and booby is still her main food. We've moved offices a few weeks ago and apparently there arent any real facilities for expressing so I have decided not to go back just yet. Sorry not sure what sort of work you do.. do they hve a spare office you can use to express?? Hope you can work something out. I breastfeed Claire lots still. Every 3 or so hours round the clock. She is still waking two or three times overnight expecting booby. I also just feed from one side. She has also never been keen on both sides.

Jen, souns like Sam loves his food! What gravy do you give him? I thought the normal gravy, like gravox, would be too high in salt for a baby?



Claire is almost crawling! She gets onto her tummy then puts her bum in the air and pushes her arms up nd rocks back and forward. Then she sort of flops over. She is commando crawling, sort of. We ended up fully rearrangning the house so there is more room to crawl. We live in a tiny 2 br unit, so it was a huge task to rearrange, but now we have a nice space for her to crawl and roll around in.

Updated my photo website and put a bunch of photos of her sleeping. She now sleeps on her tummy with her bum in the air. Anyone elses bubs doing that?

Karina - I'm a nurse, so no, there is not really anywhere that i could express - all of the hospital is taken up with patients. How rude of them! Hehe...! But because of my job, can't really expect to be able to get away to be able to express either - some days we are flat out trying to get 5 minutes to have a cup of coffee or a sandwich or something. It nearly killed me working while I was pregnant! And also because of being a nurse, I had to tell the boss ages ago that I was going to return, and now that I am on the roster again, I can't really get out of it. I really wish J had a better job that paid more so that I could live a life of luxury and never work again (except at home!). I was supposed to have until February off with maternity leave, but we really need some money, or I am never going to be able to buy a house... At the moment, we are managing to survive, but we want to buy a house soon, before they just get way too expensive, and out of our reach. But anyway, I have this theory that if everything goes pear-shaped at work, then I could maybe have leave without pay...

Emy hurt herself today - she was sitting, and then somehow toppled forwards, and landed of her mouth. She bled a little bit, and screamed for ages, and if she had any teeth, it would have hurt even more, but she doesn't have any yet, so at least she was saved from that bit of pain! After a big cuddle and a feed, she was lots happier again. Poor kiddo...I really didnt enjoy listening to her scream like that... so heart breaking! I hope she doesn;t do that again!

Sorry for the ramble - not really sure it it even makes any sense, but can't really be bothered at the moment to re-read it to check if it does!

Hi everyone

Wow, I always have so much to catch up on when I get back on here!! Well, Nicholas finally got his first tooth on Thursday (have I said that already??) and now I think the next one is coming through as well. He is also getting close to moving, but not forward yet, only backwards. Today I got him on camera pushing up onto his hands and knees and wiggling backwards, so very cute! So I don't think he is too far away from crawling!

That's about it really. Just trying to survive school holidays and trying to get another assignment done, and that's about it! The weather is nice here htough, so that is a bonus. I should be able to get into the garden this weekend to make a start on the girl's fairie garden. They have been waiting for about a year now!

Ali,yeah I see your point now with not being able to duck away for bit to express at work.. ikwym - my hubby is a teacher and loves his job, but I really wish it paid him more so I could stay at home with Claire for longer. Its hard living on one wage, in Sydney, with a mortgage. Oh no, Poor Emy! Good that Mummy Cuddles made her feel better. I hate the cries they do when something hurts.

JO, yay on Nics tooth! No teeth here but lots of slobbering and ear pulling, and people tell me they do that when teeth are coming, so maybe they're not far off! The fairie garden sounds nice!

Hi all...

Some of you may remember me, i was in one of the March belly buddies groups. Just thought id drop in to see how everyone is going.

Logan is doing well. He is six months(wow how fast do they grow?), eating a solid meal a day, rolls over and says "DAD" and was saying "NAN"(we live with the in laws) but ive tried to phase that one out lmao!(jokes)

Anyway, those are all the positive things. I talk about the whinging and sleeping issues later lol.

Hope you are all doing great love to hear from you and hello to all the people i havnt met before:)

Hugs Simone:)

Hey Shorty! I was wondering how you were going the other day... glad to here that you are good!

Well, it is now about 22:15, and I have to stay up for about another half hour because I decided that I was going to bake a cheesecake for mum's birthday tomorrow, and I didn't have what I needed, so J went to the shop after dinner, and didn't get beck till about 8:30, and I have only just finished the preparation, and now have to wait for it to cook. I hope it turns out, I've never done a cheesecake before, but mum is the one who always does all the cooking for everything, so i decided that i would do it this time... along with the fact that she is having a colonoscopy on tuesday and needs to be on a low residue diet for 4-5 days earlier, and can't eat much of anything, so no point in her doing the cooking...

Emy was a right royal pain tonight - she was really cranky at about 5:30, so i took her in the shower with me, and then gave her a bottle at 6, and she fell asleep. Then she kept waking up, and in the end i had to give in and wrap her up to get her to settle. I don't know what that bit of material does, but it is magic! Then, bacause i am trying to get her out of being wrapped, after she fell asleep (finally) i went in and unwrapped her. i have done this on a couple of nights, and once she is asleep, she will stay there till about 8:30am. Its just the settling part where we are having problems...

She was soooooo funny yesterday! I have tried her with banana before, mooshed up, with a bit of formula, and she hasn't liked it at all. Then yesterday, my sister, Bec, was over with her 16 month old daughter, who was supposed to be having a banana, but was being really fussy, so Bec asked if Emy wanted some. I told her that she didn't really like it, but we tried it anyway - just the whole banana, still in its skin. Emy was so funny - she grabbed hold of 2 bits of skin, and started sucking on the banana. Bec tried to pull it away, but Emy was holding on like her life depended on it, and continued to suck. Then she actually got a piece off, which was rather large, and like the little champion she is, instead of spitting it out, or choking on it, chewed it up and swallowed it. And then wanted more! J, Bec and I were in hysterics laughing at her, and Annabelle (my niece) and Emy were both looking at us like we were all crazy, which just made us all laugh even harder!

Isn't it funny how just the smallest things in life can now just seem so much more exciting , now that you are sharing them with your child? It really blows my mind sometimes...

anyhoo, be good!

hugs to all!!!
xxooxx

Hey Simone!! Great to hear from you, and so glad to hear that Logan is going well. His pic is so cute!!!

Well, we have had a pretty crappy day today. Nicholas is sick with a cold (I have had it since Saturday), and his cough is so bad that tonight he threw up all of his dinner and his bottle, then, once I had put him to bed, he kept coughing until he threw up again, so I had to change everything on the bed, and on him. I have now put the vapouriser in his room, so I am hoping that helps. Poor bubba, I wish I could do something more for him. Anyway, I will be getting an early night tonight as I think I need to be prepared for a rough night!

Wow guys, I disappear for a couple of days and there is a blooming novel to read hehe. Well I am pleased to announce (*very quietly touch wood) that we seem to have partially solved Ari's sleeping problems - and the solution????? 1) sleeping without clothes on - I know weird but by some fluke it works for day time and night sleeping and 2) a change in routine having veges- bath - BF and sometimes a mini nap and then custard and into bed. 3) due to school holidays and DH shifts I haven't been forcing her to have sleeps, I will try and if she won't go down in 5-10 min we have a BF and she goes back to playing - when she is ready she will just go off to sleep straight away and have a reasonable nap. so a huge WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! here

We have had 3 days of near perfect settling at night which has been such a godsend.

For all those BFing or who have BF at some point - just wanted to give us all a pat on the back as yes we are all breaking to mould by BF past 6mth. I have found even more so this time round then with DS that everyone seems to be swapping over to bottles and as Rachel said - absolutely the most important thing is that you and bub are happy and healthy but always remember that your body will adjust to whatever BF relationship you choose. If you want to feed once a day, most peoples body will cope with that. For a little while there DS only had a BF every two days when we were weaning him at 2yrs. Some great reasons to keep going - always on hand, gives so much comfort (as Ali found out - hugs to you) BF actually helps babies deal with pain and trauma, good for your health (breast cancer, ovarian and uterine cancer risk reduced) and in most cases less AF (sorry to hear about your birthday pressie Cass) I know it is hard to keep going at times but it is worth it if you feel it is right for you and your family.

Karina - I wouldn't worry too much about Claire not taking to solids. My son was the same and once we introduced fingerfoods at 9mths -12mth he started eating them without worrying about the mushy stuff. Have you tried going to an ABA meeting? I went to an ABA mothers group with DS and it was great as we were all still BF and people understood and we had a bit mre in common. We don't have any teeth here yet either.

Cass_blob - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Rachel - You are doing such a great job persisting with the BF and I know exactly what you mean about fighting her to go to the breast. What is she doing if you offer? Is she arching? What does she do when you take her off? Ari generally is whingy I offer she goes on and off cries and fussy and struggles so I put her on the floor sometimes with a dummy or a toy and then about 15-45min later she will fuss again so I offer again and generally she will take it. If she is teething also it is possible this is irritating her when feeding also. Ari has very sparse feeds when teething. Hope you find what works for you guys

Ali - yep your boobs will cope with that if you can. It might be worth taking a breast pump to work and if you get 5mins runto a loo and express off just the initial 5min worth to make it more comfortable for you. Your boobs will learn when they need to make milk and when they don't.

Anyway bed is calling

Hope all is well and will catch up with other personals soon. Have no excuxe to sit on computer now I don't have to hold Ari while she is sleeping :-)

Jo - hope Nic is feeling better soon

Ali - that is so cute! I caught Ari and Xander sharing an apple today (DS thought he would give her some pieces - luckily very big) She loved munching on them :-)

Geezzz There’s a lot of writing!
Thank you all for your birthday wishes! They ended up taking me out to sizzlers~ which was lovely~

Ali – Izzy does the ‘parachute’ move! Its very cute hehehe
My breast feeding goes kinda like this
5ish – have a drink on both sides…
8.30ish – banana cereal
9.00ish breastfeed one side
10.30-11.00ish another breastfeed one side
1-2ish yogurt, fruit or something
1.30-2.30ish breastfeed one side
5.30 dinner
Half n hour later breastfeed one side…
And on the rare occasion breastfeed at 2am…
Hope your mums birthday went well… and your cheesecake turnedout…

Jen size one what a big boy  sounds like he’s doing wonderfully 

Karina – I don’t know if she getting sick or not, the cough is still around and because of it she a little more needy then usual… I hope the cough goes away soon! My little sister used to sleep like that (bum in the air) its very cute! Clair is getting more and more gorgeous!!!

Jo – Congrats on the first tooth  hope u an nick feel better soon…

Shorty – heylo, glad to hear logan is doing well… yes they grow way to fast!

Sarah – glad to hear that ari’s sleeping has been solved! Thankz for the pat on the back  I was talking to my mother yesterday and izzy bit me so I was having a good old winge to her about breastfeeding, and she goes it might be time for you to quit! I’m like no! I like breastfeeding… I love the fact that no one can feed her besides me, and it also keeps these crazy people away that wanna baby-sit her!!! Bloody grandparents I am not ready to leave her for a couple of hours or overnight. And breastfeeding is my best excuse! Lol!

Hmm as i was writing all the above i was thinking of other stuff to write but now i can't remember it at all! lol!
My mummy is comming down on friday for my birthday party on saturday... Now this party is going ot be very interesting... it would be the first time my mums side and dads side have been in the same place same time, and like 10yrs since my mum saw her ex best friends (dads girlfriend) very interesting! Thinking of expressing and putting izzy on formula and sipping on wine all day! in home not to notice any of the *****ness that will be there lol!

okay gotta get up! going to reheat last nights chinese :) yummmy

Hey Karina, my nurse that I take Sam to see told me about the gravy. I use the Gravox ones in the cans, mainly the chicken one but I also use the Roast meat one and the light supreme as well. He only gets 1 teaspoon of gravy just to give his vegies a bit more flavour. He only gets the gravy usually every second night, or it depends on what meat I give him, sometimes I add the gravy just to make sure it will all slide nicely down his throat, and no, a little bit doesn't hurt them. I actually went and saw her yesterday and Sam is now 9.98kg and 70cm long. She also said that now he can start to have the bolognise meat when we have that for dinner and things like that now, and I don't add salt in my cooking because Joe puts it on when its served up so Sam isnt getting too much salt etc in his food. I recommend trying the gravy though, you should see their faces when they taste it, the eyes light up LOL

Hey Simone!!! So great to hear from you. Love the pic of Logan, what a cutie!!

Ali, poor little Emy. Oh, Oskar likes bananas that way too! I am so afraid of him choking on it though so I only let him at it for a little while.

Jo, I hope Nic gets better fast!! I hated it when Oskar was sick, it's yuck! If he gets a blocked up nose I found the Fess nasal spray (saline solution) was great for helping that.

Sarah, what wonderful news! I found just last night when I was watching Oskar he would get restless as soon as I put a sheet over his legs and he'd kick it off and then go back to sleep! Maybe it's too warm?? I know we had 18 last night. WOOHOO for BF...hehe... we're still going but I also don't have a choice as Oskar won't have a bar of a bottle...lol.

Cass... PMSL @ the whole babysitting thing. I'm soooo glad I can say the same thing to my mum! There's no way she'd cope as when she stayed here last week she'd come running to me with him as soon as he got whingy!! She told me to express... I'm like well you know he WON'T take a bottle anyway so you're outta luck!

Jen, I might have to try the gravy :) I LOVE gravy... yum!!

We had Oskar's needles today and he was soooo brave, one tiny whimper and that was that. He's 8.5kg now!! 67 cm long. So just under 6 kg since birth and 21 cm longer. Not bad for 6 months work...lol. I think he's going into his cot on the weekend. He's being sleeping better in the bed. He likes to roll onto his side. Hmmmm there was something else I thought of earlier to tell you guys but now I can't remember what it was! Oh well, must go and bath the boy and get him ready for bed.... OH YEAH Now I remember!!! I can't get over this... but the past 2 nights *touch wood* Oskar has put himself to sleep and even in the day!! I give him a cloth nappy and he chews on it (gross) and chats to himself and off he goes... I am amazed cos he's always fed to sleep. Anyway, off for the bath etc :)

Well sad day here :-( We finally started looking into daycare today, but on the upside we found a wonderful place and they have room for Ari and Xander (afterschool) WE just turned up no warning and the room was lovely and airy (bright cushions and paintings hanging from the roof. Ari went straight to them and was really comfortable there. And they handled my gorgeous but quirky DS perfectly as well.

Has anyone else noticed bub getting to that funny stage where they won't go (or even cry) to certain people? Ari burst into tears when this old lady spoke to her today, felt so bad for the lady :-(

Oh we have discovered Ari's favourite food. She loves to have a piece of meat in that mesh bag thing. PITA to clean it (as I am pedandic about meat and cleanliness)

Oh I better do Ari's stats although they are a bit old now as we got them done 2wks or so ago I think
weight 8.9kg (she was up to 9.1 before she got sick)
Length 70cm
She sits by herself all the time (love how they have such good posture at this age) and is this close from being able to pull herself back up to sitting from tummy. She commando crawls everywhere and is so quick and is now getting up on hands and knees (taken about 5 crawls)

Cass- wooho on Oskars growth, and OMG on puttinghimself to sleep that is awesome!

Cass_blob - oh I know what you mean about the babysitting. I loved that too when DS was a baby

JenP - Ari is starting to have samples of our dinner too (we are the same, we don't add anything either)

Hehe i bet they wont be so keen to babysit when she's at her terrible twos! lol!

Izzy does that Sarah - For my nan and Aunty she is right if they talk to her, but if they take her off me she screams blue murder! my dad or his gf she's got them wrapped around her little finger an wont let them sit down! its quite amusing that one!!! And other strangers with some people shes okay others she'l scream blue murder untilli turn her away and they stop talking to her...

Izzy's stats although they old too by a couple of weeks ...
Weight - 7.82kgz (she only put on 80grams in 2 months - but dr wasnt concerned)
Height - 67cm
Can sit by her self falls down occasionally, can roll one way can't roll back...

Gotta go :) caio

Hi everyone!
Just having a quick read, Sara and Cass_blob - Phew!! im soo glad your girls do the crying thing too, i was starting to get worried with Emily, i thought she may be to clinggy to me, she also does it if shes sitting on the floor and someone (other than me, DP, DD or my mum) come up and talk to her to close. I thought they may have scared her, i wouldnt want someone in my face either! ;)

Awww Sarah, :hug:... like you said on the upside it's a wonderful place. I was like that with Joshua... so sad but found a wonderful lady (family daycare) and he was with her until he went to school and just loved her and adored her son (he was older and he idolised him..lol). WTG Ari! I haven't tried meat yet, but he's not full on into food yet either. Sometimes he wants it and other times he's like... oh come on mum I KNOW that's not your boob!! lol.

Cass, PMSL @ terrible two's .... will have to make a day out for us mum's and get the nanna's to babysit seeing as they want it so bad!! ahaha.

Shell, Oskar cries with one of my friends..lol. He'll be right and then all of a sudden it's like he looks at me and goes... omg mum why aren't you holding me!!! Then he BAWLS.. I mean FULL on cry the place down and the only way to full on settle him is to BF.

Nothing too interesting happening today... I have a headache :( Lack of sleep type. Oskar is amusing himself on the floor at the moment and Joshua is playing playstation! Oh... I also have a majorly sore boob... :( It was soooo full and hard this morning and all across the bottom of it is still very firm and sore. I tried expressing but I'm not sure if it's a blockage or not. My bra may have been pressing on the wrong spot last night :( Anyway, I think that I may be in need of a caffeine hit to perk me up for the arvo. Later lovely mummies.

Ozziehoffy - Just read about Oskar chewing on the cloth nappy - Em does this on her socks - ive been not putting them on because of it, shoes or anything material will go into the mouth - anything, except the teething ring! I always thought it would dry her mouth out? although will all that dribble probley not! LOL. Really glad to know Em's not the only one with the crying thing, i thought she may be getting to attached to me. I love to watch DD#1 playing with Em, Em just loves her to bits! Although as babies they are very different.

Sara - I hope Ari keeps up the good sleeps (positive thinking - she will it keep up!) What meat do you give Ari? Crawling!! OMG...im impressed Em can sit up alone! I love being able to put her on the floor when i take my shoes off / on (instead of awkwardly shuffeling them on & off) Heaps easier! But i would love her to crawl! Ari is very clever!! :clap:

Cass_blob - terrible 2's - needy 3's it just keeps going!! I pitty DD#1 when she ha her 18th or 21st - its t\errible to say but my ex makes me feel sick every time i look at him let alone be at the same party! Hope your party goes well - and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :dance:

Hope everyone else & bubs are going well.
Emily is having a crabby day today, just wants to be carried all day or its tears, im really hoping a tooth will come soon! Otherwise thats it from us.
Be well.
Shell
xxooxx

I've just put a couple of photos in the gallery (i figured out how to do it!!)
sara - both your kids are beautiful! Love Ari eating the sand!

Shell, it's sooooo totally gross how saturated the foot of ones his bears he likes to suck gets!! It's one I keep in the car so he has toys for his pram... and GROSS ME OUT! It has little rope arms and legs then "teddy" type material and filling and ugh! One foot is flatter than that other cos he sucks it so much... pmsl. I would fully gag if I had something like that shoved in my mouth... it's in between the size of a 10c and 20c piece, so not tiny! Oh, he sucks his socks too. As soon as you put something on his feet, into the mouth they go so I really have to watch him with his shoes. Joshua LOVES playing with Oskar but won't openly admit it..lol... I guess it's not cool ;) He'll wait next to the change table for me to finish with Oskar and then take off with him. He goes in and plays with him when he wakes up and if I've got him will come and steal him off me! At least he isn't ignoring him.

Lol Shell, you posted about pics while I was still typing my post. I LOVE the little green top Em has on... she's soooooo cute!! I haven't worked out how to do pics there, if you click on Oskar's name in my signature though it will take you to piccies :)

Ozziehoffy - Very true on ignoring. Im hearing you on the "not cool" thing too, Renae loves Em, more now that she can agknowledge her, although it does come in quite handy sometimes having an older child, i get Renae to sit in the car with Em sometimes if i need to run into the shops - i really hate having to pull Em in and out if im running in for bread and milk! Whats with the sucking on everything?? her hat, toys anything goes in the mouth! I pick her up or something of hers and its soaking wet!

Oooh yeah having an older one is very handy at times. I actually send Joshua in and stay in the car...hehe. Then sometimes if I want to have a shower and wash my hair I'll get him to watch him. He's the same, he's really enjoying Oskar interacting with him and even comments on how much he's changing and finds him very amusing. It's so lovely to see the interaction when they don't know you're watching ;) There's a pic on the website with Oskar laying on Joshua's legs and it just captures it beautifully and that was a couple of months ago.

Where can i see the pic?? Im really dumb when it comes to these things, as i said - i had only just figured out how to put pic's on here!! :doh: :clap:
Never mind about me but i just noticed you've had a vbac, well done - i hope i can do this with #3.

Just click on either my name (Cass) or Oskar's name (just near the VBAC info) and it should take you to where the pics are.

I just noticed that Em and Oskar are almost EXACTLY 24 hours apart... One minute under 24 hours... how weird is that!

Yep, found them! I said i was dumb!!
OMG - he's soooo cute!! I loved the pumpkin face, when he's in the yellow suit and the one of him and Joshua together is very special! You must be so proud of both your boys!
Never noticed that about the 1 minute, 24 hours apart - how weird!! and they both have a older sibling!!

Thanks :) Yeah, the pumpkin face is adorable. Yeah, they're both pretty good boys :)

Hey there ladies...just wanted to say hi! Wow, I can't believe how big everyone's babies are. 2 weeks ago Grace was 7.02kgs and 68cm long. Long and lean....it's amazing the growth difference isn't it. Have a great weekend ladies.