September 2014 - Rocking and Rolling

[FATEdestiny]

Our babies are rocking and rolling, crawling and climbing into the second half of their first year.

Let the fun continue...

after an amazing night on monday where b did 8-6am last night was back to 7-5.30 with two settling bits in the night. They were ok just a replacement of dummy and stroke of head and he went back to sleep. however v concerned about what I do when I go back to work as with a 5.30 wake up he is going to need a nap at about 7.30 but that's when he will be off to nursery!!! and also i was planning on getting up at 6 to get showered etc before b got up at 6.30. that needs a rethink.

Is anybody else starting to feel broody? I never thought I would (DH and I had agreed on having just one plus DD had such a tough time as a newborn) but 3 friends have told me they're having babies this week and it's driving me a bit mental. I should feel happy and excited for them but I just feel jealous and sad that we won't get to do the baby stage again

Holls* - B needing a 7.30am powernap in the mornings isn't that bad - because he can sleep in the car on the way to nursery? Either that or getting him to sleep (or keeping him awake and entertained) becomes nurseries task rather than yours!

Apples - Subsequent babies are usually easier than first borns, or did you mean tough time health wise when born? I'd definitely recommend more babies, but then I would say that with my brood of 4.

I'm not broody. Never felt this way after a baby, but definitely feel 'finished' this time around. Its quite liberating.

Currently having my first period with the copper coil fitted. I have been told how horrendously heavy early periods are so had my expectations set thus. While it is a heavy period, it's actually not that bad. I have heavy periods anyway so isn't all that much worse than normal. Pleasantly surprised.

Ella - DD has porridge and milk to drink every morning. Then depending on how long I need to keep her penned into her highchair (while the rest of us get ready) she may also have fruit and/or toast as well.

Lunch is whatever I am having - Sandwich, something on toast, pasta salad, boiled/scrambled egg etc etc. Then a jar of baby food. Then a yoghurt, then fruit. Squash to drink.

Bottle of milk before lunchtime nap

Dinner is whatever the family is having (with the exception of meat strips, which she can't manage) cut up small but not mashed up or anything. Depending on how much she's eaten she may have a jar of baby food as well. Then yoghurt then fruit. Squash to drink.

Bottle of milk at bedtime.

I'm definitely broody, I'd start trying again now if I could but for financial reasons we need to wait until DS is two so he's not far off getting his free childcare hours. But if we won the lottery I'd start trying straightaway.

DS has porridge made with milk and either fruit purée or strawberries added for breakfast & then a bottle of milk 30 minutes later

Lunch is normally a piece of cheese, two pieces of fruit & rice cakes with soft cheese or similar topping. DS refuses to eat bread no matter what I do with it. I'm hoping the childminder can crack that as it would make life so much easier.

Dinner is normally what we had the night before followed by a yoghurt or rice pudding. If he doesn't have what we had he has pasta or scrambled egg & beans or similar. He also loves mash & would be very happy to have mash & veg every night if he could! He has another bottle of milk at bed time & then water to drink throughout the day. If he wants a snack it's normally breadsticks or Apple rice cakes.

Holls, DD normally has a 10 minute nap on the way to nursery. Her nap schedule had totally changed with starting nursery and we are still trying to work it out!

I'm not broody in the slightest! I have no idea why, but I've only ever imagined DH and I having one. Having another would also stretch us way too much financially and would have a really negative impact on my career that would be near impossible to recover from. If we were younger and in a different financial situation I might be tempted to have a second, but we've decided on one and I'm very happy to stop there.

Food wise, DDS had fruit and toast at 6am and then weetabix when she gets to nursery. She has a bottle mid-morning with her nap. Lunch is at nursery and they give her loads of different things! Small snack when I pick her up, usually rice cakes. Another bottle with her mid-afternoon nap. Dinner is usually some finger foods, she loves sweet corn rings, a jar of food or something I've made, then fruit for pud. She's currently loving blueberries, which has a very interesting effect on her poo!!!

Gosh, we're finally getting the warm weather here! Shorts and tshirts are getting worn.

Favourite foods are soup, mince and mash and pasta. Actually that's pretty much all his foods, must expand his diet! He picks at veg, but other than brocolli he's not a big fan.

Naps and sleep have gotten awful again. He just will not stay still to go to sleep, and if I hold him still then he cries. He acts knackered but by the time he's in bed (all of 30 seconds later) he's bounding about full of energy . His nighttime is so disturbed, crying out every hour or so and just can't get back to sleep despite his best efforts. I finally got Sarah ockwell-smiths book and it was very reassuring that this is completely normal and to just ride it out for the next 4 years

Ok so we finally have a tooth here but it's a canine?! Do I have a vampire child? Should I be concerned?!

DH only wants one for all the reasons you've listed, Team, and I agreed to that before DD but am really regretting it now and would also love DD to have a sibling. Health-wise it wouldn't be great for me to have another after nearly bleeding out with a haemorrhage, but I'm still feeling broody in a way I never did even before DD.... Hmm...

DD's menu is usually porridge/cereal for brekkie then whatever I have for lunch and tea. The only thing she doesn't like (at this stage) is peppers, and her faves are bananas, blueberries, pitta bread as 'baby pizza', spaghetti bolognese and weirdly also prawns

Ha Lilly be proud of your mini vamp!

Apples, how do you make your baby pizza? And what sort of things do you have for lunch and tea that you share with baby? I always make separate food for DD as I don't feel DP and I eat well enough at all to share with her! And it's like pulling teeth to get DP eating fruit and veg.

DD usually has porridge and fruit or fruit puree for breakfast. Funnily enough though i've found that fruit as finger food seems the most difficult for DD. Has anyone else found this? So recently i've made a batch of blueberry pikelets and wholemeal apple muffins (sugar free) and she's been having them for breakfast too and enjoys them.

Lunch - Recently been rotating between vegetable fritters, frittata and courgette polpettes. I've got batches of all in the freezer. Toast too, and fruit and veg pouches.

Dinner - I usually make batches of two different Annabel Karmel recipes (meat and veg) at the weekend and rotate between them. Not as much variety as i'd like though and still pureeing them all, but it seems i'm pretty PFB about what I give her!

food we have

breakfast porridge with fruit puree and toast which he just locks the jam off!

lunch either scrambled eggs, omelette, spaghetti hoops, etc etc, pasta with veggie sauce

supper something meat based. tonight was mince and meat. last night fish pie. i am trying to give him same as us with varying degrees of success.

first morning at nursery done and he was fine. cried when I came back for him but was fine as soon as he had a cuddle.

Definitely sell then Ella! Are you on any local Facebook selling groups? Baby stuff goes so so quickly on the ones I'm on. Even if you make juts half back of what you paid you can use that money to buy new things!

Them*

lilly Yay...teeth ! My eldest son got his canines first, it looked so cute !

Food favourites:

Breakfast:
Dry shreddies; or dry hoops cereal; or Toast (nimble bread) with fruit puree

Snacks:
Any fruit; or biscotti; or a malted milk
Lunch:
Scrambled egg; or dairylea sandwich; or ricecake (all accompanied with cucumber and tomato and cheese pieces)

Dinner
Pasta carbonara; or salmon; or chicken; or shepherds pie; or golden rice and veg; or roast (loves a yorkshire)

Dessert
Everything !! Trifle, ice cream, jelly yoghurt etc

J loves feeding himself. It takes him ages to eat a meal..i only put a couple of things on his tray at a time and he ploughs through.

Work
I'm now back at work and have finished my first week (only work 3 days). I can't believe I am saying this but I have really enjoyed it. My contract has slightly changed so there's more work involved - which is great as I have been too busy to think about home. I've actually enjoyed the routine in the mornings and been super organised. J has been at my mum's and the twins go there after school. He is down to go to nursery for 2 mornings but there isn't a place until August.

Broodiness
I also get those jealousy pangs as J is definitely my last. It's just not practical for us to have any more. J loves seeing other babies when I take him to weigh-in and I feel sad he won't have anyone to grow up with. He's such a sociable little boy so I'm sure he will make lots of friends...but still...
I've loved the baby stage with J and will really miss it.

jay stupid question but how do you make your pasta carbonara?

Arghh, jet lagged baby. This is so painful! He was up at 2 am for the day two days ago, 3am yesterday, and 3:30 this morning. At this rate it'll be next week before he's waking at a normal time again. Yesterday he was up from 3am to 1pm with no nap, and in that time we went for long walks, to the park and swimming lessons, in the hope of wearing him out. Stubborn kid.

Favourite foods here:
Breakfast:
Toast with peanut butter and banana
Porridge
Greek yoghurt with fruit of some variety

Lunch:
Whatever I'm having. Sandwiches with chicken or cheese and tomato, avocado and lettuce lots of days. Recently, quesadillas with sweet potatoes in them were popular.
Scrambled eggs on toast
Avocado on toast

Dinner
Broccoli pasta
Lasagne
Risotto with peas
He loves salad leaves, weirdly. He sucks the olive oil and balsamic vinegar off.

I am feeling broody. My period was a few days late this month, and I think this was the first time that I didn't think 'oh, sh*t.' But I expect that we'll only have this one, sadly. Good thing that he's such a cutie!

I think I'm very bad because I don't give b sandwiches. Mainly because he still has nooooo teeth!

Next question...how many milk feeds are your babies having now? B has dropped his milk intake again the last couple of days, perhaps 120ml first thing amd 150ml last thing. Also there is seemingly a comfort milk shortage (aptamil) but I spoke to my HV and we are going onto the follow on milk.

I think it'd be fairer to call these deconstructed sandwiches around here. I eat a sandwich and he has the elements separately. Only two teeth!

He still has a number of milk feeds on days when I'm around. He always has first thing in the morning, then again before I head to work, the right after I get home, then after dinner, then about midnight, then 1-2 between then and morning. He has an expressed bottle of about 100 ml or so while I am at work. If I'm home during the day he has at least one more in the afternoon.

"sandwich" definitely means deconstructed sandwich here too.

If it is something that can be spread then a sandwich means a slice of bread spread with whatever and quartered. Otherwise it means a slice of bread and butter on the highchair tray alongside the elements from within the sandwich (separately). Todays was slices of tomato and cheese with the bread and butter.

Bread is easy to eat with no teeth because it 'mushes' and can be sucked. Your DS should be able to manage it holls.

DD has probably about 20oz-25oz of milk per day over 3 bottles.

Milk - I offer 21oz (630ml I think...) over 3 bottles a day. She usually leaves around 80ml per bottle, so not really very much!

E's meals:

Breakfast: creamy porridge either plain or with a fruit puree blended in (tried other flavours but not a fan) sometimes he has toast and Ella hoops.

Lunch: savoury jar or pouch, organix puffs or hoops, toast, fresh fruit or puree.

Dinner: same as lunch!

He is on 3 bottles a day, one when he wakes, one between 2-3, and one before bath!

holls
My carbonara is very basic !
I boil up some wholewheat pasta, add some pepper and either chopped ham, turkey bacon or quorn bacon and make this cheese sauce:

www.madeformums.com/baby/easy-cheesy-pasta-sauce/22077.html

As he eats with his hands, he only has drizzled sauce rather than drowned pasta.

He has about 18-20 ozs milk now...he's cut right down.

J only has two bottom teeth, and two little points at the top but somehow he chews his food up. I never would have believed babies can chew food up with their gums until I saw it .

How much do all your babies weigh ? At 36 weeks, J was dead on the 50th centile and weighed 19lbs. Not had his height measured for ages.