PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[lliang_chi]

Some quick questions in a fly by post:

1) Utensils for baby to feed himself: What has anyone else used? How old? Do you need to stick with plastic utensils?
2) Riding toys: Does anyone have one they recommend? I live in a 1000 sqft condo, does it makes sense to get one for Ethan?
3) Teeth: Do you brush their teeth? How? Ethan doesn't really like me sticking my fingers in his mouth, not sure how he'd take to a toothbrush? Do you use kiddie toothpaste?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Fly by post for LC

1. Katie isn't great at feeding herself with a spoon, but we've been having her practice with the soft tip spatula-like spoons (I think you have them--I remember seeing them in photos of E). For some reason I'm afraid that Katie is going to jab herself in the mouth by accident, so I like the idea of a soft tip.

2. We don't have any riding toys (yet). We did get a rocking giraffe for her 1st birthday, but it's still in the box in our office. And I don't know if it's technically a riding toy. I'll be interested to see if anybody else has them/likes them.

3. We brush Katie's teeth, but it's more me giving her toothbrush teething toys than me sticking my fingers in her mouth. I tried the finger tooth brush, but she HATED it, so now I have her chew on it herself. And I also got her this toothbrush teething ring thing that she likes. I'm afraid if I force my finger in her mouth she'll be scared and hate brushing her teeth when she's older. We used to use kiddie toothpaste, but our dentist told us it's not important.

Oh, and I'm sooo sorry to hear that E still isn't sleeping for you. Is he still taking the bottle (of water) at 2am, or is he just waking up out of habit wanting to be comforted? Is there anything more stressful than trying to get out of your kid's crib at 2am when they've finally fallen back asleep? I've only done it once or twice, but it took me 20 minutes to get out I was moving so slowly.

MP, sorry to hear about the restaurant meltdown. We've totally been there (I rushed out with hysterical baby and nursed in the car while husband got our food to go). It gets so much better. I promise. You won't be stuck eating in your house forever.

Bobbin, I'm so sorry to hear about the scary choking experience and the locked-in keys. I have a perpetual fear of both. I remember Katie choking badly once and I was shaking for hours afterward. It's so scary. And I know you must have been terrified of C being locked in the heat. The same thing just happened to my friend 2 weeks ago, you are not alone!

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, thanks for the responses. I"m kinda with you on the being scared he'll poke himself, so I don't think I want to move to forks or stainless steel just yet. I still try wiping Ethan's teeth with a washcloth, but there are days he doesn't like it. Can you post a link to the tootbrush-like teethers? Riding toys I'm thinking about are the ones that can be used to get around with. Riding-walkers? Ethan has a push-toy walker that he's getting quite good at. He's steering and maneuvering with it.

Buttons: Baby movie time sounds awesome. I would've loved doing that when I was on leave. Sounds like it'd be so much fun. I used to get together with a few SAHMs that are part of my DH's university circle, so that was my weekly-ish interaction. Sorry T has a cold. I hope he feels better.Have you heard from your BFF yet about her baby? How fun that T will have a playmate soon!

MP, do NOT sweat the meltdowns. I totally agree with the other ladies here, just take it on the chin and know that it gets better. Maybe Ev wanted to try some dinner too, he just doesn't realize that he's still a baby.

Bobbin: Scary few experiences for you mama! I'm glad everything was OK. Wow, everyone I know said clapping is a big milestone, so hooray for C! Go you on the weight loss, and the 12 wk challenge sounds like a great motivation. Sorry to hear the teething is bad. It's the same thing here for us, see below.

Lulu, Pancake also had great things to say about Wonder Weeks. I didn't read it, is it just for newborns or does it continue on past 9-12 months?

Kunzite, OK I'll have to try taking a picture of me in the crib with him, but I have to do it on the sly since I don't want J finding out I snuggle with him. I am way better at getting myself out of the crib now that I've done it a few times.

Haven I'm glad the mom's group is working out for you. What store do you meet at? THere's a TON of fancy baby stores all over Chicago. And the horrible part is I can so easily spend money at them...

AFU:
Ethan's been waking at night, but I think it's teething related. He's got two top teeth flanking his front two coming in, and more flanking those. Plus bottom teeth. So I"m thinking that's probably waking him up. We just let him CIO now, with intermittent verbal reassurance. He goes down by himself, but it is tough hearing him cry.

More questions:
Dentist? Any thoughts on when you should go? I honestly didn't get dental insurance for Ethan because I figured he's barely got teeth. What are you plans for

 

[amc80]

LC- I have an awesome dentist and I'm good friends with his wife, so I trust his advice. He said the official recommendation is one year, but he thinks that's a bit early. He said 18-24 months or when there are around 6 teeth. He said the more important thing is to have the baby go with you to get them used to the environment. Have them sit in the chair, etc., so there is a comfort level.

 

[lliang_chi]

Cool thanks AMC.

Also I forgot to post these pics, so I'm doing it now. He's going to be a year soon.

Shout out to Pancake, Miss Sylvie's big day is coming up!!!!

 

[bobbin]

Re spoons: I have been encouraging C to 'feed herself' with a spoon since we started solids just before 6 months. I load the spoon up and then hold it facing the right way in front of her mouth so she just grabs it and shoves it in. At first we used the spatula soft spoons NEL was talking about, but this was just because she wasn't very adept at sucking the food off the spoon, she would chew it and because the spoons are flexible it was easier for her. Now she knows how to suck the food off the spoon we use melamine or plastic spoons.

She is getting better at it and just today she showed me that she is ready to start scooping the food from the bowl - with my help. Up until now if we showed her the bowl when she was holding a spoon she would drop the spoon and put her hand in the food! But today she pointed the spoon into the bowl, and then I held her hand to help her scoop the food. She would put the spoon back into the bowl ready for another scoop when she was done with the spoonful.

Sometimes she does enjoy flinging food around though! I would suggest starting with something a bit sticky like oatmeal so it doesn't just slide off the spoon while he is getting used to the movement of bringing it to his mouth.

Re brushing: A health nurse here told me to brush her teeth for her and then let her play with the toothbrush whil I brush my teeth. She hates it though, squirms about and it is almost impossible. She will sometimes let us use a silicone finger brush to brush her teeth. I give her a toothbrush whenever I am brushing my teeth and then make exaggerated teethbrushing movements and encourage her to brush. She just chews it though.

AMC - did he mean the earlier of 18 months or when they have six teeth? Because C had 6 teeth at 7 months!!! I hadn't thought about the dentist though, will probably take her at 18 months. I have bad teeth and I don't want that for her.

Oh, ETA - sometimes we run out of baby spoons and just use metal teaspoons. She handles them fine.

 

[bobbin]

And some photos of my gorgeous girl.

Clapping!



Water play:

 

[monkeyprincess]

LC, OMG, he is just the cutest! From the pictures you've posted, he seems to look like you. I too am fascinated by this climbing into the crib you all seem to be doing The thought never even occurred to me to try to climb in his crib. I feel like I would break it or something or hurt one or both of us.

Bobbin, C is a little sweetheart too. So fun that she is clapping and interacting so much.

NEL and Bobbin and others, thanks for the support on the meltdown. I was surprised how much it rattled me, but I think that is because I have always been a person who tries really hard not to make a scene or disturb others. We ordered a portable bottle warmer/thermos thing, so hopefully, next time we get in that situation, we will be able to soothe Ev with a lukewarm bottle.

Quick question - Does anyone have any good recommendations for bibs? Ev is constantly spitting up still (darn acid reflux) and/or drooling like crazy, and the only bibs we have are Carters bibs we got with outfits or as gifts. I would like to find something that has waterproof backing and that is a bit more absorbent. The Carters ones are kind of a joke in that regard. Thanks!

Also, we are fighting cradle cap again. His scalp is so scaly even though we wash and scrub it every night. Our doctor suggested we try Selsun Blue shampoo, but so far it hasn't seem to make a big difference. We tried the oil thing too, and I just don't think it helped. I hate looking at it, but at least it doesn't seem to bug him too much.

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, Ethan had cradle cap for a while also. We used Burt's Bee's shampoo & body wash. It cleared 95% of it up after a few weeks. You have to massage his scalp then comb the shampoo through. I used the soft plastic brush that the hospital gave us. He ended up having a little spot that was the size of a dollar coin or so, and that cleared up with some triple ointment applied a few times a day. Unfortuantely there's nothing that's a one shot cure-all and it takes a while to get rid of it. But give it a few weeks.
I was worried about the crib taking my weight but it was totally fine. I weigh about 137 and Ethan's 24lbs. I probably won't be doing it for much longer since I don't want him getting dependent on cuddling with me.
Bibs: we got Ethan these http://www.amazon.com/green-sprouts...029&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=green+sprouts+bib. I like them because they're cheap, waterproof, reasonably absorbent and solid colored. The velcro is quite sticky so you must close the bib before putting it through the wash or it might get caught on stuff. Or you can just put it in a mesh laundry bag as an alternative.

Bobbin, super cute pic of C! I can't believe she's so good with the spoon. Ethan used it to smoosh most of his food around on his tray. He also tried to stick it in his sippy cup. And wow, C has 6 teeth already? Ethan's still working on his 5th & 6th. He has a few more coming in (from the looks of it) but it takes his teeth FOREVER to come in.

~LC

 

[JGator]

MP, we just received the same bibs that LC linked you to on Amazon...we got the girl colors. My mom likes them as she wants the bibs to match K's outfits - also she wants the pacifiers to match! The nice thing is they are supposedly water proof but are not super crinkly sounding which I don't like on some others we inherited. We also had a meltdown at a restaurant on Saturday. Totally random -she was asleep in her car seat carrier and then started screaming at the top of her lungs, and she would not take a bottle. We tried walking her around the restaurant, and I ended up having to take her into the bathroom and breast feed her while sitting on a toilet. Not exactly comfortable/convenient, but she calmed down. This is probably related to a wonder week. I just got the book and there are major phases at 12 weeks and 19 weeks.

Bobbin, C is adorable and I totally feel for you with the incidents you experienced recently with the car and choking.

LC, good luck with the spoon feeding. I would suggest the soft tips ones, but I'm no expert yet. I saw this Y bike in person recently and thought it was pretty cool for toddlers - http://www.amazon.com/Pewi-Ybike-Ride-Walking-Buddy/dp/B004EIS6EQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360081690&sr=8-2&keywords=y+bike

 

[amc80]

Re spoons: I have been encouraging C to 'feed herself' with a spoon since we started solids just before 6 months. I load the spoon up and then hold it facing the right way in front of her mouth so she just grabs it and shoves it in. At first we used the spatula soft spoons NEL was talking about, but this was just because she wasn't very adept at sucking the food off the spoon, she would chew it and because the spoons are flexible it was easier for her. Now she knows how to suck the food off the spoon we use melamine or plastic spoons.

AMC - did he mean the earlier of 18 months or when they have six teeth? Because C had 6 teeth at 7 months!!! I hadn't thought about the dentist though, will probably take her at 18 months. I have bad teeth and I don't want that for her.

That's a great question, I'm not sure. I assume he meant the earlier of the two.

So you let C try to feed herself? B will grab the spoon and try to shove it in his mouth, but it usually results in the spoon going upside down and food going everywhere.

 

[monkeyprincess]

LC and JGator, thanks! I had actually put those exact ones in my Amazon cart this morning, but I wanted to see if anyone had any good recommendations before I pulled the trigger. Off to do so now.

LC, thanks for the cradle cap advice. We had just been using Burt's Bees and hospital bruch until this weekend when we tried the dandruff shampoo. I just hate how it looks, but I guess as long as it doesn't go past the scaly phase, we should just keep doing what we're doing. And maybe I should try some ointment too.

JGator, too funny that you also had a restaurant meltdown this weekend. Must have been something in the air Also, I'm a little OCD and like to have Ev's bibs match his outfits too, and it kind of bothers me when they don't. I guess that is pretty ridiculous when I think about it

 

[amc80]

Oh, and thanks for the recommendation for those teething bibs. The drool is out of control. But I am annoyed that the boy bibs are $21 and the girl bibs are $14!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Oh, and thanks for the recommendation for those teething bibs. The drool is out of control. But I am annoyed that the boy bibs are $21 and the girl bibs are $14!

What?! I hadn't even noticed that.

 

[JGator]

AMC and MP, too funny on the price difference. Maybe get 2 packs of girl bibs and give away the pinks. There are a lot of gender neutral colors in the girl pack!

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC: What? When I bought them it was like $15! Funny that, because in life women have to pay more for everything (haircuts, etc). But the only failure in that logic is we're MOMS and WE'RE still paying for more expensive bibs! LOL

MP, Ethan's cradle cap was scaly for a while. But 1) it never got worse than that with Burts and 2) You should hopefully notice that the area of affected cradle cap is getting smaller and smaller. Keep at it, and have patience.

JGator, OMG having to nurse K in the bathroom sounds terrible. I've breastfed Ethan in public but less crowded places. That Y-bike looks fun, but I think we might nix it until either we have warmer weather or we move to a bigger house. J might freak out with the accumulation of baby stuff.

 

[Haven]

LC--I go to moms group at New Mother New Baby in Northbrook. Love that place! Waaaaay too easy to spend $ there, that's for sure. Have you been to Sprout? Friends sent us a gift from there and it's adorable, I totally want to check out the store.
Look at your handsome boy! I agree, I think he looks like you!

Bobbin--Beautiful girl! Look at that smile!
I hope my moms group is as successful as yours! It was so scary going out on my own at first, but now that I have I don't want to stay in anymore.

Buttons--Thank you! The store doesn't do product demos during our new moms group, well at least not yet! It's owned by a lactation consultant, and she runs the group. It's really nice to be able to ask her questions about nursing AND baby products, though!
I LOVE the Boob hoodie! I'm totally buying one for myself this month. I'm going to be nursing for a long time, I hope, so I want some comfy and cute clothes to do it in!
I'm going to check out that site now, thank you.
Has your friend had her baby yet? So exciting!

MP--Oh no! I'm sorry about the meltdown episode. Chin up--I bet you were more upset about it than anyone else around you!

AFU: We went to the Bring Your Baby matinee today and it was awesome! My good friend (who is 33 wks pregnant) met us there. There were only three other moms w/babies there, plus one woman who clearly didn't know it was a BYB movie. They gave us bibs and some organic baby food samples at the ticket booth, the lights weren't turned off all the way, and the volume was lowered a bit, so it was very baby-friendly. I wore B in the Moby and he only let out one cry when he woke to nurse. Otherwise he just hung out and ate the entire time. I nursed him in the car after the movie too, this guy just wants to eat, eat, eat.

B hasn't been sleeping well this last week, so I've been pretty exhausted lately. I'm just hoping it's a growth spurt. He had a case of baby acne that got really bad, but our ped said to just leave it alone and wash it with warm water every day. I kept reading about using breastmilk on baby acne, so I decided to try it one one cheek on Saturday, and after rubbing breastmilk on that cheek all day it was almost gone! I did the same thing with his other cheek the next day, and all of the redness disappeared and now he's just had some dry skin since. I couldn't believe how well it worked! I wonder if it would work on cradle cap, too?

I think you ladies introduced me to Zulily, thankyouverymuch. I bought the cutest plush elephant rocking "horse" on there yesterday. I know B won't be able to use it for a long while, but I've always wanted to buy a rocking horse, and when I saw the ellie version I couldn't resist. His nursery has an elephant theme, so it is perfect.

I hope everyone is doing well!

 

[sunnyd]

Haven I bet we have the same rocking elephant! We got it from Zulily shortly after finding out I was pregnant. It's so dang cute!

Forgive me (again, LOL) for not responding to everyone. I have 4 minutes before I get to leave work, ha! Harlowe is rolling! Started 2 weeks ago or so, so her couch naps have officially ended now that she could potentially end up on the floor. DH had hand surgery yesterday and can't do any lifting for the next 10 days - 3 months, so I'm all alone in baby duty. Ugh. I'm stressed to the max trying to get everyone fed and medicated and to bed. It's ridic!

 

[Buttons]

Hi ladies!

Lliang I've no advice on spoons or teeth as I am nowhere near that point yet. My friend had an antenatal appointment today, she's 40+7 and they are bringing her in for monitoring at the weekend. Otherwise she's just chugging along. It's gas, I was more patient waiting for my own baby than I am waiting for hers! I am trying so hard not to be that person constantly texting and asking her "so? any news? how are you feeling? " but it's hard!!! Your photos are adorable as always Was E shopping for a big boy bed?

Bobbin look at that clapping action, oh my God how cute!!! And her wee toothums! She is gorgeous!

monkey good thinking on the portable bottle warming apparatus! I am filing that one away for later use! Re bibs we got about 50 bibs as presents when T was born, so no shortage of them in this house. We have a mixture of plain cotton ones, plastic backed ones, and one fleece backed one. Honestly I find the fleece backed one the best. Our one is by a company called Hip Hip Baby but it was expensive so I am on the look out for a cheaper alternative. I find the plastic backed bibs the worst ones, the moisture seems to sit on the surface of them and they need changing more frequently. Although I guess that may in fact be the point? Hmmm... No advice on cradle cap except to offer the alternative perspective from over here which is that bathing baby more than once a week can give them cradle cap (or if you believe my Nurse Crazy, every ten days to two weeks). T gets washed about twice a week and one of those times is after the swimming pool... otherwise I just top n' tail him every day with baby wipes. I hope the cradle cap starts to ease up soon!

Haven that is fantastic to have an LC 'on hand' to chat to about any issues you are having! No word yet on my friend's baby (I put more detail above in my reply to Lliang). Yippee for a fun baby matinee yesterday! We enjoyed our outing too, although it was just me and T in the cinema, and one man on his own who couldn't get to a regular showing of the movie. I had to go out and change a dirty nappy (we use cloth nappies, so they have to be changed pronto if he goes no. 2!) but otherwise he was good as gold. Mesmerised by the big screen until he got hungry, had a big feed, and then went to sleep on my chest for an hour I also found breastmilk great for baby acne, and more recently it has worked wonders on a runny eye and a stuffed up nose Sorry to hear about the sleep regression, I am sure it will turn around again though. Swings and roundabouts!

Have and Sunnyd I am intrigued by this rocking elephant?!? That must be so cute! You will have to share pictures!

===

AFU no baby swimming today as T was snuffly again last night so I didn't like to chance it. We have an appointment with the nurse at the GP practice tomorrow for his 4 month shots (not the same nurse as I told you about before). I doubt he'll actually get the shots given he was sick at the weekend but I am going to keep the appointment anyway as it is with the other GP practice in the village and I am still 'GP shopping'. I wasn't impressed with the first practice I tried. This one comes recommended by the Mammies in my Mammy group so hopefully it will be better.

I also want to ask the nurse if I need an appointment with the GP for myself as my ankles and wrists have been stiff and weak since I had T. I have a family history of rheumatoid arthritis and it can be brought on by pregnancy so I want to get myself checked out. I am finding it hard going down the stairs as my ankles are so stiff, and the other day I had trouble opening the car door as my left wrist collapsed on me. Also at bootcamp last Friday I could only do about five chair dips before my left wrist again collapsed

We went to the baby cinema yesterday and saw Lincoln - not the best choice to run for baby cinema I thought but I really enjoyed the film. Next week they are showing some zombie comedy movie - Warm Bodies? Has anyone seen it? I don't like scary horror movies so I am a bit dubious on this one...

After the film I met up with one of the Mammies from our baby signing class and we went for coffee. We had a lovely chat and discovered we have so much in common outside of just baby stuff so that was really nice.

Hope you are all doing well

 

[monarch64]

Buttons, glad you are going to get your joints checked for RA. I really hope it's not RA but at least you can seek treatment? I have been having issues with tendonitis in my right (dominant) elbow for months now, and my left wrist has developed some sort of cyst inside that's very painful as well. Not conducive to lifting/carrying a 21 lb. baby! I've been told to use wraps or wear a sling but that really prohibits me from caring for A so I've refused so far.

Haven, the baby matinee sounds awesome!

 

[Kunzite]

LC, we have these utensils for O that he started using once he was mostly feeding himself. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90192962/

Okay, I've had this post started for like an hour so I guess I'll just make this quick!

E has started bullying both of his brothers! If either of them are playing on the floor he will take their toy, or in M's case pull his hair! Poor M has a ton of hair to pull too! This kid is going to be a handful I fear. He's started to pull up so we had to lower his crib. Today I was making his breakfast and in the few minutes that I was in the kitchen he had crawled to the other side of the house, pushed the door open, and was trying to crawl up on M's crib. Mind you, M was sleeping when this happened!!

 

[lliang_chi]

Kunzite, holy cow you get 6 sets of spoon/knife/fork for $2?!? JACKPOT! Why didn't I think of Ikea before! I ordered 2 or 3 sets of cutlery from Amazon that I might return. Now i just need to go to Ikea So funny to hear E is a total bruiser. Is M totally getting run over all the time by him? He'll toughen up soon. Either that or he'll be totally laid back. Either way it's fine. My sister and I are kinda like that, she was always more pushy and I'd usually let her talk for me. It wasn't until I was much older that our interested started to diverge a bit and I became more pushy.

Monnie, wow, sorry to hear about the tendinitis and the cyst. Is the tendinitis kind of like Tennis Elbow? Anything you can do to treat it?

Buttons, I hope you like this other GP better than the first one you visited. Having recs from the Mommy Group is already a plus. How far is the next town? WOuld it be possible for you to go there if you wanted more choices? I hope you can get an idea what's going on with your joints. That's not a good thing if you're running after T as he gets older. How's the bootcamp going otherwise?

Haven, I think I've been to Sprout. TBH, they've all blended together now. The one that sticks out is GALT because they were so helpful when we were looking @ convertible car seats. Although they were really pushing the Britax, even though we decided to go with Diono. Aside from that, they were really nice. Interesting about the breastmilk helping baby acne. Ethan had some too, but it cleared up in a week or two. Glad you had fun @ Baby Matinee. I wish we got a chance to do that when I was on leave, but we were a 1 car household and James used to drive to work.

 

[sunnyd]

Thoughts on breastmilk to cure adult acne?! My face is horrendous at the moment, probably stress and the fact that my period has returned. I LOVE hormones, don't you?

Sorry to hear about the sore joints Buttons and Monnie. That doesn't sound fun at all while chasing/carrying a baby around.

Buttons, I haven't seen Warm Bodies, but that seems odd that it would be chosen as a bring your baby movie. I mean, it's zombies for crying out loud. Hahaha, good luck there!

Kunzite, ruh-roh to bullying. Those boys are so dang cute! Love the pictures!

 

[lliang_chi]

SunnyD, poop on the return of AF. Hoping everything levels out for you. How are things going otherwise?

 

[amc80]

HI everyone!

I've been quiet around here- we moved over the weekend. Moving sure sucks, but we are in a much bigger place and that is pretty nice.

I ended up taking B back to the pedi on Friday because I could tell he wasn't feeling well at all. Doc suspects another sinus infection. So he's on antibiotics. We are also supposed to keep using the albuterol nebulizer. B seems to be doing better and I can tell he's much happier. I'm not sure if it was a growth spurt or being sick or a combination of both, but his sleeping was terrible...up 2-3 times a night every night. Well, that seems to be better (shhhh, typing quietly as to not jinx it) and he has slept through the night two nights in a row. The night before last he ate around midnight and then slept until 7, and last night he slept from 8:30 until 6. I really hope this continues!!

I can't believe he's 6 months in two days. He is really good at sitting now, although he will occasionally fall back. We moved him to the big bathtub (with a munchkin blow up duck thing inside, they are great) and he LOVES it. He splashes like crazy. He even figured out that if he puts his rubber ducky under water and squeezes it, it will fill with water which he then tries to drink (yuck). He's also holding his own bottle which is awesome.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

 

[Skippy123]

Bobbin and Kunzite, they are ADORABLE!!!! I miss when my boys were as little as yours Kunzite; they are soooo precious. hugs to those beautiful boys

 

[lulu66]

just a quick howdy & update from us!

I'm so jealous to those of you that have baby matinee movies! that would be so enjoyable. nothing like that in this teeny tiny town...boo!

mp just wanted to chime in. don't stress about the restaurant meltdown!! and get the book

liang it appears the last "leap" covered in the wonder weeks occurs at week 75, so that's just under a year and a half, right?

sunnyd stay strong caring for your whole family! how long will dh recover?

thanks for all the baby cuteness kunzite (x2), bobbin, liang!!

AFU, had Ellie's 2 month checkup this week. she took the shots like a champ-- cried getting them & as soon as the band aids were on, she was just looking around the office laying on the exam table. afterwards we went to target, then the car ride home, all perfect. the meltdown didn't start till hours later when we were home. she just wanted to be held all night. poor baby. she has a blocked tear duct that may require surgery if it doesn't open by 9 mos. I'm massaging it 3x a day & crossing my fingers. I love watching her grow & develop. I can already see this little person forming & I know so much of that will be who she is forever! I'm finding being a mother truly is the most amazing & hardest thing I've ever done.

here's Ellie at 2 months:

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Hoping Missy is doing okay. Thinking of you and praying for you & your family.

 

[monarch64]

OMG so many gorgeous babies in here!! I cannot get enough!

After a kind of "blah" day, I drove home while the sun was still out and a hot air balloon was just taking off right by our neighborhood. I called my husband from the main street and told him to look outside, and by the time I pulled into our driveway, the balloon was directly over our house! We could actually hear the burner being ignited--it was really cool. When I was a kid, one landed in our backyard once, and a few years later a different one landed in our neighbor's pasture, so it was a really nostalgic moment for me! A wasn't very impressed, of course. Maybe next time. She is much happier about baths and her little octopus bath toy. Here are some pictures!

 

[dani13]

AMC, which blow up thingie do you have? I want to get something like that for L eventually! He loves bath time and splashing!!