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...

Oh dear EllaBella! Naughty M!

Someone asked about toys - at the moment Jessica likes chasing a ball around, her baby activity centre and trying to grab everything off the coffee table! Lol! x

Off for a long weekend tomorrow with DH's family. Hoping Jessica sleeps in the travel cot as it doesn't look as comfy as her cot-bed. Also it's a 4 and a half hour drive which I suspect is going to involve a lot of stopping to entertain / feed / change baby, so I suspect it'll take more like 6-7 hours. Long day tomorrow!

Oh also can I ask what you are all feeding your LO's now? In the past week Jessica is now petty much refusing to be spoon fed (except yogurt which she loves!) but will eat things like breadsticks, cheese triangles, carrot sticks etc; so I think it's her way of letting me know she wants to start moving onto 'proper' food as she seems to want to bite stuff now. The problem is she only has 4 teeth so hard to know what she can manage. It's difficult though as she STILL hasn't at all mastered feeding herself anything (I give her breadsticks, biscuits etc all the time and she just plays with them but will happily eat them if I feed them to her) so it's all very time consuming giving her food at the moment. I thought I might try getting her some quiche for later to see if she could manage that, and also will try to get around to doing her some pasta to eat.

Oh also (sorry so many questions!) when do you normally move babies off from bottles and onto beakers? x

I think NHS recommend moving away from bottles by 12 months old.

Jessica could probably have a good go at almost all proper foods now KitKat. My DD has 5 teeth and has been having proper food from having only 2 teeth.

Quiche is a good idea. Our dinners this week, which DD has had with us:

Saturday: Pizza and garlic bread
Sunday: Pork, new potatoes, carrots, baby corn, broccoli, cauliflower, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing
Monday: Pasta Salad (the bought stuff), salad and cold meats
Tuesday: Chicken Kiev and tomatoes.
Wednesday: Salmon, peas, sweetcorn, new potatoes

Then loads of stuff for lunches (sandwiches, omelette, something on toast, salad, sausage roll, hard boiled egg etc etc) and breakfasts (toast is the main-stay, but also DD has just started getting into feeding herself dry cereals).

I don't feed DD these, just put them onto her highchair tray (sometimes cut into bite sized pieces, sometimes not) and leave her to it.

kitkat J also has 4 teeth but eats proper food - and has since having no teeth ! He just doesn't like purees ! He sounds very much like Fate's LO when it comes to eating. He eats anything and picks it all up with his hands - over the past week dinners have been fajitas; spaghetti bolognaise; quiche and salad; chicken, veg and new potatoes; salmon and scrambled egg.
We have had a couple of gagging incidents over the past few months - especially in the earlier days - but nothing too worrying. I never let my elder two eat in this way - I wouldn't have dreamt of it. But it seems to really suit J, and he eats a real variety of flavours and textures.

nazly Glad the nursery has worked out ! J isn't starting nursery until August, but his also has CCTV. There is also an app I will be able to log into during the day to see what he's been doing - and any memorable moments such as walking and activities get added so I can watch them ! I'm really lucky with his nursery as it is a new build attached to my workplace and is meant to be "world-class provision". I get a subsidy as I am a staff member so it works out cheaper than my other local ones. It seems lovely - the best I've ever seen - so fingers crossed it will live up to its reputation.

lilone Yes, our LOs definitely seem to be in sync !

Just off to have a proper catch up on this thread. Since I've been back at work, I've been on the internet a lot less. I guess I don't have all the hours in the day anymore inbetween working and cleaning, I try to make family time as quality as I can - ie no screens !

Hi Ladies

I have been keeping up with the thread, but not had time to post as just been getting into the routine of being back at work, and getting A to nursery (most of my catching up has been in bed and I had no energy to type )

KitKat A only has two teeth but he pretty much eats anything. Nursery are providing all his meals when he goes there, and he eats better than me and DH. Meals this week include Chicken Curry, Pasta and Sauce, Sandwiches, Bagels, Chilli and Wedges, Quiche. On the days he isn't in nursery he eats what we eat. He prefers to feed himself though, grabs the spoon if I try to feed him anything!

Nazly Glad to hear DS seems to be enjoying nursery more.

Toys - A likes chasing balls around, banging on things, and climbing. His favourite thing at the moment is pulling himself up on the coffee table where my laptop is and 'typing'. Or banging down on the keys, hence I can't really have the laptop out when he is downstairs

Cumbrian- yes to catching up in bed!! :)

May I ask a question? I think in ds nursery his key worker is under the impression he now has to know how to spoon feed him self, she has been asking me about it since last month if he spoon feed himself in home
He uses his hands to eat finger food, but he cant use a spoon yet; what about your LOs?

nazly so glad your DS is settled in better at nursery now, you must be so relieved. Mine refused to be spoon fed from the start so has always been given loaded spoons. Most of the babies I know that are his age and older are still spoon fed though, it's certainly more effective and less messy! I'd been wondering that about nursery actually, whether they'd just want to spoon feed and save themselves the time and mess of loaded spoons. I'm sure mine doesn't have the skills to load it himself, though I haven't given him the chance.

Nazly I haven't been tried to get DD to spoonfeed herself as I thought those skills came later.

DD eats a bit of whatever we're having now I've finally managed to get DH to ditch the salt. She has 4 teeth. Her dinners this week have been:

Tagliatelle with a tiny bit of unsalted butter (we had carbonara with yummy bacon and lashings of parmesan)
'Rainbow chips' - roasted sweet potato, courgette and parsnip wedges (we had a side of burgers )
Jacket potato and tuna
Salmon and rice

Jay your nursery sounds fantastic, what a lovely perk!

DS still has quite a limited diet but that's my fault for not cooking enough different things for him, must get a cookbook. We end up having the same thing for tea every week, no imagination! He eats what we eat unless we're having rubbish.
So he has:
Mince, mash and veg
Pasta and either chicken or tuna
Spag Bol
Chicken, rice and veg
Chicken and sweet potato wedges/mash/couscous
Fish cakes or fish pie

He has soup or sandwiches for lunch and weetabix or readybrek for breakfast. We're quite limited by being allergic to dairy, soya & eggs but I still could be cooking a lot more

nazly J eats with his hands and cannot use a spoon. As Apples said, I think that comes later.

apples Yes the nursery does seem really lovely. I work in further education, so the nursery is mainly for students and staff's children - and also used as practical placements for higher level students. This means that the baby section has one to one care . I viewed several other nurseries as I couldn't get J a place immediately, and none came close to it so I've decided to wait.
I think my mum will be secretly gutted when he starts; he's only going for 2 mornings out of the 3 days that I work - but she absolutely adores him and loves having him whilst I'm at work. I think the interaction with other kids will do him good though - he's become such a little prince on a pedestal, and he knows it .

I don't give DD any foods to feed herself that need a spoon. Everything is something she can grab hold of to eat so she eats with her hands.

Any foods that do need a spoon, I spoon feed them to her (she still has a jar of 4m baby food for 'starter' for example, also yoghurts). But the stuff I offer her to eat herself don't need a spoon, hence she doesn't use utensils (or even a plate/bowl) yet. It will come when her dexterity improves.

E is spoon fed but won't hold the spoon himself! It usually kicks in about 1 I think :) E also only eats a very small amount of ff, I offer food all the time almost all of it ends on the floor he will often eat it off the floor

Nazly A can't spoon feed yet either. He throws the spoon away and picks food up with his hands. Nursery were a little shocked at first and were trying to feed him (and mashing things up) but he grabbed it off the spoon and fed himself

Yay to the tooth Ella. They are very sharp so I don't blame your DS for being scared!

DS will sometimes grab the spoon if he's having porridge or yoghurt but he prefers me to feed him as its quicker, he eats more of it rather than wearing it & he can spend time looking round the room, banging his tray, ripping off his bib etc!

We're on our second ear infection in a month. Really hoping this isn't going to become a regular thing but as DP had constant ear infections as a child it's starting to look like it might be.

Is anyone's baby walking yet?

Yeah! A tooth Ella. I always end up looking back with hindsight for teething (ah, that's why x, y and z happened...), rather than being able to predict a tooth with any accuracy.

We had one of those moments like the Charlie Bit My Finger youtube clip (have you seen it? worth a look). DS (nearly 6) likes putting him finger in DDs mouth, but didn't count on her biting down and clamping on so he couldn't her his finger out.

FATE your poor son, I'm surprised on a daily basis by how hard DD can clamp down.

How do those of you who are first-time mums feel like you're adjusting to parenthood? I felt like I was doing well and then had a baby-free day out with friends and suddenly having a baby seems very hard again. I feel a bit like I'm grieving for my old, carefree life. I feel so guilty as I love DD but this week I've also resented her a fair bit

I just saw your threading on the parenting board come up as I was reading "Active Conversations" Apples, so I replied there.

I'm sure going back to work will help. Anything that gives you some child-free you-time to be yourself rather than being "Mummy". Equally DH & I need time to be a couple rather than being parents.

So we have to find time for me to be me not Mummy (which I get through my volunteering), DH to be DH not Daddy (which he gets at work) and for us to be a couple not parents (which we get in the evenings and the occasional babysitting day). All of this wrapped around the 24/7 nature of being a parent helps keeps us sane.

You have gained far more than you have lost by becoming a parent

anyone else suffering 8/9/10 month sleep regression? ds has been bad for 3 weeks. last night was a shocker - up 6 times including a 90 min spell awake

beccus sleep has been disrupted because E has got a cold, so he is waking up but going back off. And we are having really early mornings :(

E is close to standing by himself, he can do it by himself when not paying attention and when he holds on he barely holds on. Lots of repeating words in that sentence!

E can now clap, play peek a boo and wave :)

We are having some good nights and some shocking nights. It all seems a bit random and unpredictable. I've always said I couldn't do cry it out, but I've had moments recently when I've considered it

Apples, I know exactly how you feel, but I've not wanted to say anything to anyone as I feel awful saying it out loud. I can say that returning to work has made a massive difference. It is nice to miss DD and I feel that we both appreciate each other now that we are not together 24/7. I've always enjoyed time on my own, and I really missed it while on maternity leave. I love getting into my office in the morning and soaking up the calm silence. To be very honest, I found it quite suffocating at times during my maternity leave and I was very ready to go back to work. I also struggled with the lack of routine. On the plus side, I really do now feel more like myself again, but myself with an extra mummy bit added on. Working half time seems perfect for all of us, other than financially! I also feel that I am a better mummy to DD now I'm back at work as I feel I enjoy her more, rather than just treading water.

Apples - Is there anyway you can start easing yourself back into work a little earlier but slower than you had planned. I found that my keep in touch days really refreshed and energised me.

DD is crawling at lightening speed, pulling herself up to stand and bouncing around, but has no concept of putting one foot in front of the other yet. She is being very affectionate at the moment and when she cuddles she pats you on the back, which is very cute and funny. She also is obsessed with scrunching her nose up and loves giving Eskimo kisses.

I'm doing the dairy ladder slower than recommended, but so far it seems to be going ok. She's fine with soya, so I'm able to give her a little more stuff already. The recommended foods for introducing dairy are funny as they are things that many people would refuse to give little ones: biscuits, cake type things and chocolate buttons!!!

Nursery has been great this week and we are all feeling much happier.

Holiday season is nearly upon us. Do people have their holidays booked already?

Appreciate each other more!!! Always appreciated her, just a bit more now.

We have no holiday booked I fear a baby and a plane

team we did sleep training and it was very mild and worked in 4 days! But there were tears!