The new rolling ILX parenting thread, since the other one was getting unwieldy

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Yes, maybe they'd play with each other when they got to be toddlers...? I love infants but it is when kids get to be 3 that I start to flounder. Even so, I'm done with the babies; everyone else can enjoy their reproducing, though, and I'll look on admiringly! (It's so clear that everyone is doing a better job than I am...)

― Sara R-C, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:49 (seventeen years ago) link

That top Ben picture is an absolute gem!

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, go on then - a couple more pics posted at http://pregbasket.blogspot.com

― Meg Busset, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Aw Meg, he's just gorgeous.

― luna, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:47 (seventeen years ago) link

"Howie" = super-awesome name!

― schwantz, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:59 (seventeen years ago) link

OK - one more. I got home and my wife had taken this:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/182/457228887_34c16a387a.jpg

― schwantz, Friday, 13 April 2007 02:47 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh the cutest smiles!

― Sara R-C, Friday, 13 April 2007 03:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh Ophelia's chickenpox disappeared pretty quickly! As you can see in this picture she's back to her old self:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/453917167_115bac4125_m.jpg

Thanks for asking! :-)

― nathalie, Friday, 13 April 2007 07:24 (seventeen years ago) link

What cuteness! I can't believe how big Ben and Owen have gotten already, and Ophelia's looking so grown up in that photo! Meg, Howie is indeed a little cutie, that photo of him asleep on you is adorable!

Excellent news of the adoption front, fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for you.

I'm torn - I don't want to wish my pregnancy away cos I'm rather enjoying it, but I want squirrel to be here NOW! (I think it's very good timing to see lots of fluff as the reality of what we are about to embark upon is starting to hit home and it's good to be reminded of the benefits!)

― Vicky, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:13 (seventeen years ago) link

ophelia probably has an ear infection. poor thing.

― nathalie, Saturday, 14 April 2007 15:50 (seventeen years ago) link

Hi dere. Good to see Alice doing so well after her op and everyone else's kids coming on great too.

Here's one I took of Megan this morning. She's sitting up all by herself and now has her first tooth. She was 7 months old yesterday, I can't believe it!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/460409696_127c6171ca.jpg

― onimo, Sunday, 15 April 2007 20:18 (seventeen years ago) link

OMG, she's getting big! She was only an ickle wee thing when I saw her! Also, she looks really like you.

(p.s. you have the same carpet as us)

― ailsa, Sunday, 15 April 2007 20:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Quick update: test results perfect, referral accepted. Not sure when we'll travel but probably this summer, H in Addis will be taking me on a tour of Addis Ababa's best places. Happy happy happy, so happy and grateful. Terrified too, how does one do that whole little-baby thing again?

― Dimension 5ive, Monday, 16 April 2007 02:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Start practicing now by waking yourself up every 3 hours, staggering around in the dark warming up bottles and such. Maximum congratulations to the entire Dimension 5ive clan!

― Jaq, Monday, 16 April 2007 03:48 (seventeen years ago) link

You lucky man to meet H in Addis as well! Plz to give him my very best.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 16 April 2007 03:49 (seventeen years ago) link

haha Jaq that's what I do now anyway with no babies in the house!

― Dimension 5ive, Monday, 16 April 2007 05:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Can the next thread title be "Teh Cuteness"?

Cyrus has been wheezing. We've got him on albuterol. About to leave the kids with an Other for a week while we gallavant off to Seattle kidless. They'll be alright, right? We're leaving them with my stepmom, a retired pre-K teacher. They'll be fine, right?

― Maria :D, Monday, 16 April 2007 05:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Stepmothers have a bit of a bad rap. Have you vetted her for wickedness and evil?

― Mark C, Monday, 16 April 2007 10:06 (seventeen years ago) link

My husband will stay a weekend with his parents to see how she copes with being in a different place. Then next time she'll probably stay over without either of us. A bit scary. I see all these sharp edges (on tables) and steps looming; :-(

She's still a bit feverish, but not that much. She's also drooling and picking her ears from time to time. She'd definitely in a "bad funk" as she has these little tantrums. I think going to the doc is maybe a bit hasty but then I feel as though I'm neglecting her by not doing it. :-(

― nathalie, Monday, 16 April 2007 11:37 (seventeen years ago) link

And OMG Megan has such pretty eyes!

― nathalie, Monday, 16 April 2007 11:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Megan is gorgeous, mate. And I can see bits of both you and Mrs Onimo in there - she has a lovely innocent look with a touch of "don't mess" thrown in.

― Guilty_Boksen, Monday, 16 April 2007 11:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Beeps after her first day at childcare:

woo!
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/4859/daycaredayonebb4.jpg

wee!
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8805/hellokittyqs1.jpg

PHEAR TEH BEEPS
http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/9035/pheartehbeepszs3.jpg

― sunny successor, Monday, 16 April 2007 23:01 (seventeen years ago) link

She's just beautiful. I want to smooch her fat little cheeks.

― luna, Monday, 16 April 2007 23:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Also, xxxpost - they really are a perfect pair - what a great pic!

― luna, Monday, 16 April 2007 23:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Sunny, what a little cutie! Could she open her eyes a little wider?

Maria, don't worry. The boys will be in great hands. Your stepmum is lovely. I slept under her roof and came to no harm.

― Beth Parker, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 01:29 (seventeen years ago) link

How was it putting Beeps in daycare? I dread the day I will have to do it with Baby Nr II at six months. The first day I had to put Ophelia in daycare, I really wanted to cry my eyes out. And she was over a year old. :-( I felt so guilty because it wasn't really necessary. Now we are allowed to put her three days per week in daycare, but we rarely do. We always find a reason to keep her home. :-) That said, it's sometimes a relief to put her a day in daycare because it can be extremely draining to run the shop and take care of her. That's something I have to keep in mind when those tears well up.

Those Hello Kitty sheets! ME WANT! I want Beeps as well, what a cutie, but I know that's impossible. ;-)

A friend, who's also pregnant, not only smokes like mad but drinks gallons of coffee. The only thing she doesn't do is eat raw meats. And cheese, I think. WTF. It's her fourth child, so hey, I hope this one will be as healthy as her three others.

Maria, don't worry! (Yep, easier said than done.) :-) Hey Beth survived!

― stevienixed, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 09:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Beeps is lovely. Our Tallulah is scoffing baby rice and banana porridge now (and rolling over - but not, thankfully, at the same time):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/460631470_3ff9f527b5.jpg

― Michael Jones, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 09:40 (seventeen years ago) link

Beeps = beautiful! Can I set her up with Howie when they're older?

I want a girl next! Not for a while though...

― Meg Busset, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 11:25 (seventeen years ago) link

The babies all just get more and more gorgeous!

Alice has been really unsettled since the op and any routine she had went out the window, but she is gradually getting happier again:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/462786580_91154b5565.jpg?v=0

Helping me with the crossword:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/462786584_ce0ab30fb5.jpg?v=0

― Archel, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 12:53 (seventeen years ago) link

Archel, that is SO FRIGGING CUTE! <3

― nathalie, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 13:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Already doing her crosswords in pen!!

All these babies = completely, heart-meltingly adorable

― Jaq, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 13:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Aww..thanks, everyone.

Alice is looking at Monkey! So cute!

Michael, how old is Tallulah now?? It only seems like a couple of months ago that she was born!

Nath, Beeps took it a lot better than PP and I did. She was asleep when PP dropped her off and happy as a clam when I picked her up . Of course, PP didn't want to let go of her in the morning and I was racing to get her in the afternoon. She was also the least fussy she has ever been afterward. We had trouble keeping her awake to feed her! I guess because she is so young (only six weeks old) its easier on her because she doesn't really know whats going on. I can see how putting a one year old in daycare would be MUCH harder.

Now I think about it, it may have been the first day Beats didn't cry at all. Maybe they're drugging the formula! Yay!

― sunny successor, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 14:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Tallulah is 5.5 months; she's really come on in the last couple of weeks - so much more mobile. She won't be crawling or walking as early as her sister, I don't think. So much more to lug around!

― Michael Jones, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 14:25 (seventeen years ago) link

How old was Ava when she first walked/crawled? Some people tell me kids dont walk til they're two and some say its around one. Two seems a really long time to be immobile.

I'm kind of dreading Beeps crawling. We're not prepared for it. Just in the last week I've found a whole bunch of coins, a shirt button and a big shard of glass in our carpet.

― sunny successor, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 14:47 (seventeen years ago) link

These babies are killing my ovaries people - so sweet! Also, Alice looks wonderful!!!

― ENBB, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 15:44 (seventeen years ago) link

Our 3 year old has just been busted by his mum in the process of eating worms in the garden. Washing them in the bird bath first, then popping them in his mouth, so bonus points for good hygiene practice there I think.

― NickB, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:07 (seventeen years ago) link

I spoke to him on the phone afterwards and he was all 'Daddy I did eat some worms'

― NickB, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:09 (seventeen years ago) link

haha TRUE CONFESSIONS

― Dimension 5ive, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:11 (seventeen years ago) link

all babies on this thread are lovely beautiful and smart, older kids too, everyone is awesome and I love you all

― Dimension 5ive, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:11 (seventeen years ago) link

NickB your child will live forever. I read about a study that showed that farmers have fewer autoimmune diseases because of all the soil organisms they ingest. It keeps their immune system from attacking itself. A group of people who suffered from inflammatory bowel problems ingested eggs of an intestinal worm (of hogs, so that it wouldn't get too comfy in the human gut). All of them had relief of symptoms and BEGGED THE RESEARCHERS FOR MORE HOG-WORMS.

― Beth Parker, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Ava crawled at 7.5 months and walked at 10.

I banged my knee on the side of the tub last night while bathing Ava; she said, "Daddy, hurt self? Don't worry, Daddy." A few minutes later she tried to pull my face off.

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 19 April 2007 15:05 (seventeen years ago) link

My grandfather apparently walked at EIGHT months. When you say walk, Michael, do you mean without help? Ophelia walks but needs one helping hand. She's 15 months old. I think the cut-off age is about 17 months, after that you're *late*. I don't care that much, I mean, I don't expect that she'll need a hand when she 23 yrs old. ;-)

― nathalie, Thursday, 19 April 2007 15:27 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, it totally doesn't matter when they start. The day after Ava had sat and watched her near-contemporaries toddling about (most 2-3 months older than her) at an Xmas party, she took three or four steps of her own unaided - waddling from Mummy's arms into Daddy's. By the end of that week she could do ten steps and after that there was no stopping her. We hadn't even tried to see if she could walk before that week!

She had been pulling herself upright from a crawling position on stuff for a while - this was at nearly 8 months:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/51570458_90201b461e.jpg

― Michael Jones, Thursday, 19 April 2007 16:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Argh naps are becoming more and more of a nightmare. This afternoon I spent a difficult hour trying to get an exhausted and tearful Howie to nap in his crib. Eventually he conked out and slept peacefully... for 15 minutes. Then woke up screaming and refused to be resettled, or even cuddled back to sleep. He is obviously still tired as he's yawning and rubbing his eyes, but what am I supposed to do? So I've just put him in his bouncy chair and hoping he'll drop off from sheer knackeredness (before I do!).

There, moan over. Of course he is still a little darling but I just wish he'd sleep better in the day - we'd both be happier!

― Meg Busset, Sunday, 22 April 2007 13:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh meg, tell me about it! :(

Alice has always struggled against daytime sleep, even when exhausted. Some techniques we used:
1) music (obviously you have to experiment but Alice responds particularly well to yodelling CDs!)
2) swaddling
3) shushing noises
4) last resort - dummy. This almost always works with A. but it's controversial I guess. My reasoning has been that as she can't comfort feed from the breast as other babies might, I should give her a chance to suck something if she wants to. And boy does she want to!

The swaddling can be especially good at stopping babies from waking themselves up by flailing around etc, although if Howie is waking up screaming it could be wind troubling him?

― Archel, Monday, 23 April 2007 10:01 (seventeen years ago) link

I think he screams 'cause he's still tired - when he's had a longer sleep he wakes all smiley and happy. He usually wakes after exactly 30 mins so I think he's having trouble switching through stages of his sleep cycle without waking. Some days he will have 4/5 30-min catnaps but they barely seem to keep him going.

Shushing/patting works fine to get him to sleep in his bouncy chair or on me (most of the time, anyway) but it's keeping him asleep past 30 mins (without pushing him round the streets for 2 hours) that is a challenge! Have decided to give up on daytime crib sleep as he doesn't sleep any better there, and in fact it's harder to get him to drop off there. I don't want him associating crib with crying as he sleeps so well there at night!

As for swaddling, he doesn't like having his arms by his sides (they are permanently being waved above his head) so not sure he'd like this - we try to do it with a towel when washing his hair over the bath, and within seconds there are limbs escaping all over the place.

The dummy is a slightly contentious issue in this house. My husband is all for it but I really, really don't want to end up with a baby that needs it to sleep (and parents that have to put it back in his gob 10 times a night). So I use it only if we're out in the pram and he kicks off a long way from home or somewhere he can be fed. He has started sucking his fingers a lot so hopefully soon he'll find his thumb, then he can settle himself with that.

Having said all that, after yesterday's dreadful nap day, this morning he fell asleep in his pram without me even getting it out the door, and is still asleep 45 mins later. So just goes to show, you never can tell what a baby's gonna do.

― Meg Busset, Monday, 23 April 2007 10:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Ophelia didn't (and still doesn't) like swaddling. She prefers to keep her arms above her head and move around.

I can understand you would prefer the daytime naps, but if they are anything like Ophelia: they will learn the difference between day- and nighttime much quicker. Well, she did anyway. I understand you would like a bit of rest but, alas, the baby decides. ;-) THe only thing that really helped for Ophelia: going for a walk with the pram/buggy. Now it doesn't anymore, but when she was a baby she fell asleep the minute we hit the pavement.:-)

― nathalie, Monday, 23 April 2007 10:31 (seventeen years ago) link

Also, one week to the next: One week will be easy, next one difficult. Especially when they go through *jumps* or teething, expect less sleep. :-)

― nathalie, Monday, 23 April 2007 10:32 (seventeen years ago) link

meg, archel and nath; beats does the same thing in the day. i can get her to sleep for 15 minutes MAX in the crib. she'll sleep for hours while im holding her though. actually, she sleeps all day at daycare and all afternoon when i bring her home. i wonder what they do?

hey, lets find and post cute and helpful kid stuff!

if beats could fit into this id buy it in a second. yay, interactive t-shirts!
Interactive pirate t-shirt

also, do you think these would work?
Plush pacifiers

― sunny successor, Monday, 23 April 2007 17:34 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.babydagny.com/file.aspx?id=1061&w=300&h=300

Or we could just have the orange tabby cat bite on one of the pacifiers and save sixty-five bucks.

― Pleasant Plains, Monday, 23 April 2007 17:54 (seventeen years ago) link

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