??? Weekly Check-in ??? 6/29/2011
HAWAII NESTIE/BUMPIE MAMAS
MauidAims ? Kai ? 02.16.08
MrsNFB ? Sean Patrick ? 10.11.08
kauai_luv ? Waianuhea ? 04.04.09
kshiz ? Ella ? 04.04.09
bigislandhi ? Zoi ? 06.29.09
Mrs.Ziz ? Bella Kailani ? 07.24.09
Hawaiian Honey ? Matty ? 08.07.09
MrsWinter ? Ashton ? 08.14.09
myday1708 ? Alexa ? 09.09.09
missaloha ? Ellery ? 09.13.09
MrsNJSwimmer ? Billy ? 11.09.09
Trieulam - Kiptyn ? 11.12.09 & precious angel Kylie ? 11.12.09-1.28.10
MrsPresley ? Miss A ? 11.12.09
HulaLove ? Elyse ? 12.14.09
Married2MrWright ? Libby ? 01.25.10
Sanae78 ? Kaya ? 02.11.10
SirenSong ? Samara ? 02.16.10
Mauiwedding08 ? J ? 02.10
Jaysgirljulie ? Ryan ? 03.9.10
LisaKeiko ? Johnny ? 04.19.10
redshoegirl ? Will & Dash ? 04.21.10
liubride510 ? Kailani ? 05.08.10
inamra ? B ? 05.10
rwright5 ? Mason Lee ? 06.03.10
supercoolnat ? Zachary ? 06.07.10
parrotgirl ? Mason ? 06.15.10
lelekay ? Henry ? 07.22.10
MrsIH ? J ? 08.28.10
Vanilla15 ? Adair ? 09.10
ECUPirate04 ? Lauren ? 09.29.10
mrsnickandnora ? Blake ? 10.07.10(?)
eacerna ? Eleiana ? 11.03.10
SanHawaii08 ? E ? 11.09.10
annasan_k ? Zo? ? 12.17.10Oceangirl22 ? Kenley ? 01.05.11
johndrea - Everleigh - 01.12.11
kinibruin ? D ? 02.11
MrsZiz ? G ? 03.11
MauiBride2008 ? R ? 04.02.11
HappyGoLuckyGal - M - 04.13.2011
HAWAII NESTIE DUE DATES
August 201108.01.11 ? Boy ? stargirl76
08.11.11 ? Boy ? MiniWheats
08.22.11 ? Girl ? Hawaiian HoneyOctober 2011
10.06.11 - Baby - mrs.winter
10.10.11 - Emily-Victoria - maryNamory
November 2011
11.23.11 - Baby - HulaLove
January 2012
01.16.12 - Baby - Married2MrWright
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Post updated due dates or gender reports here.
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until?
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques?
(8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins?TTCers: Which cycle are you on? Where in the cycle are you? What, if anything, are you doing/trying for TTC success?
**PIP a picture if you like!!**
Re: ??? Weekly Check-in ??? 6/29/2011
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? 19.5 months
(2) Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? We left him at a Parents Night Out at my friend's church and he was whiney cranky and clingy. I guess he wasn't too happy we left him there.
(3) Next appointment date? 2 yr checkup, unless night terrors don't subside in a week, then we're going to go back.
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? night terrors, for sure. The last 2 nights it hasn't been quite as bad, thankfully, but I'm still not used to this waking up several times/night thing! looking forward to these ending soon.
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until? n/a
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well? I saved a chunk of bonus money I got soon after we found out I was PG. Then I called a friend and said what exactly am I saving for?? And she went through a list, in which every other item was "diapers" or "wipes", lol. That pretty much took care of everything we had. I can't think of anything unplanned that was a great expense - oh wait, yes, he had reflux and the Rx cost me $50 every month - that was pricey, but the baby fund took care of it all. Now mostly we just have his stuff budgeted in with ours, but we still pull money out of the fund for diapers/special items on occassion.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques? we don't do this, but I started putting lotion on him after bath a couple weeks ago, but I was having trouble - looking forward to answers to this q!
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? Better I think. E is sleeping a lot better so I am too! milestone was sitting up. she is perfectly content sitting
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? Aug 5th for another round of shots
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? n/a
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until? planning to bf until 1yr or until I run out whichever comes first I suppose
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well? We started putting my paycheck into savings and just used DHs. We haven't really needed to dip in our savings for her yet.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques? sometimes. E is quite the squrimer though
(8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins?TTCers: Which cycle are you on? Where in the cycle are you? What, if anything, are you doing/trying for TTC success?
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?
17 months as of Saturday. I am 11w1d pregnant.
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
Feeling emotionally drained. Two big layoffs at work this week, one that drastically affected my department. I am grateful to have my position, still, but lost my assistant to a transfer. So now I am a department of one with occasional adminstrative support from my former assistant. But she reports to a new department manager AND was demoted from an assistant manager in my dept. to an administrative assistant in the new one. Glady, she doesn't have to take a pay cut (she's been there 35 years...basically started there just after high school!)
I am also sad for my two colleagues who were let go...with NO warning whatsoever from management. One is a mother of two small children and has a husband on disability. The other was is 61 and had been there 21 years. She's a grandmother and currently caring for twins aged 9 months because her daughter is unstable.
Anyway, this has been a very trying week at work and sadly, I've been at the end of my rope once I get home. J leaves about 30 minutes after I get home, so we hardly see each other AND then I am trying my best to transition from the crappy day at work to being the best mom I can be to my tempermental toddler with the 4 hours/day I have with her. *sigh*
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
I have an u/s next Friday with my regular OB and then the genetic screening tests with a perinatologist on the 12th. Soon after, I hope to announce my PG. I already told one executive at work...I didn't really want to, but they just assigned me to travel and work 16+ hour days in October when I'll be about 28-29 weeks and I felt I needed to give her a heads up that in all likelihood, I won't be able to keep that assignment. Of course I had to share that lovely bit of information the same day that heads were rolling. Ugh.
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
Not napping. For several days in a row this week she's simply refused to nap. It makes for a LOVELY evening.
She's also really testing her independence and willfulness...from climbing on furniture and STANDING on it to throwing her lovey out of the crib after we've left the room and SCREAMING to refusing to put on PJs without a struggle (literally wrestling her to get them on, etc.) and stalling the nighttime routine by asking for one more book, another lullaby, etc. I know it's developmental, but my fuse has been very short this week, so it's been an extra challenge, for sure. I do my best to not take it personally and to give her choices, so she feels like she has some control (like which PJs she would like to wear or which book she wants before bed, etc.). Oh, the joys of having a toddler!
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until?
Still haven't weaned. She's basically down to 2x day...at least during the work week. Once, as soon as I get home (or when she wakes up if she happens to be napping when I get home) and then before bed. We night weaned about 3 months ago...and she does still wake in the MOTN, but she puts herself back to sleep without crying/screaming. Generally we hear her put her Soothing Sea Horse on and then hum/sing herself back to sleep. It's always around 3:30/4 a.m. which I find interesting, but so far, we're no longer needing to go back in her room and help her get back to sleep.
I had hoped to wean in July, before I am away for a weeklong conference for work. But I don't see that happening. So now, I am open to just letting her lead...and perhaps, I'll be tandem nursing once the new LO is here. My BFF has done it (her DS1 will be 3 in August and DS2 will be 1 in July) and I feel grateful to have her support and guidance through this process of nursing a toddler through pregnancy (and possibly beyond). Initially my goal was to make it 6 months and then a year. I never really thought I'd go past that...but here I am!
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
We didn't save ahead of time, we just paid for things as we went along. A lot of the big ticket items were gifts, so that helped immensely. 99% of our purchases were second-hand via eBay, Craigslist or baby consignment sales. We decided to CD and were gifted the PFs and covers and are thrilled with how that's worked for our budget. What's more, now with Baby#2 on the way, there's really not much we'll need to get for him or her. If it is a boy, we'll sell Libby's clothing that I've stored and get boy clothes on consignment. Other than that, we're pretty set until it's time for another convertible carseat. And maybe a double stroller. Still on the fence about whether that's a necessity or not. We shall see!
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques?
We do lotion after bathtime and before PJs. Also, when she's teething or having a growth spurt, I'll massage her face, jaw and head while I rock her before bed. My mom is a Rolfer and Orthopedic Massage Therapist and does give her more theraputic massages from time to time. For example, Libby had a "click" in her knee and ankle around 5-6 months of age and my mom did some specific techniques to help work that out. And she does more of the cranial massage stuff which I've felt has greatly helped Libby with her teething, etc.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?
3 months Saturday!! Little R is no longer a newborn
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? Still tired, but starting to see consistent patterns with his sleeping/eating.
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
Not until his 4 month appointment in August.
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
Still trying to establish a sleep pattern in the evening. We are still not STTN and I don't think we are even close. He goes to bed by 8, I just started to dream feed him this week to see if it helps him to sleep longer stretches around 10-10:30, he will wake up again between 1 and 3 and then wake up again between 5:30 and 6:30. It's frustrating. He is still eating every 2 hours which I'm trying to slowly extend to 3 hours between feedings. I have read Baby Whisperer and doing EASY, but I don't believe it's helping for nighttime. Has anyone tried Baby Wise and recomend it over Baby Whisper??
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
We just sort of pay as we go. We saved MH bonus checks to cover all the hospital bills and pay for the expenses of buying the crib and big purchase items.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes?
Any recommended resources to learn some techniques? We do lotion after bath and before jammies. He loves it now, he used to hate it!
(8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins? How did you start establishing a sleep routine with LO? How long did it take LO to STTN?| Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
| Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
| Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |
I haven't personally used Baby Wise, but it's a somewhat controversial book. One of the things the authors advocate is Parent Direction - i.e., parent decides when the LO needs to be fed instead of follow baby's cues, parent decides when naps begin and end, etc. I think that these techniques might be OK for an older infant (more like toddler age), but are harsh for younger babies. At your LO's age, maybe The No-Cry Sleep Solution would work better, if Baby Whisperer isn't helping?
Also, what sleep methods (shushing, white noise, swaddle, etc.) do you use? At that age, my dudes slept best when swaddled, with white noise on a loop in their nursery all night long - they were particularly partial to the dishwasher noise I downloaded for free from here (they also have nature sounds).
I hope we can help you find something that works...I remember the hell of those sleep deprived days! Hang in there - it WILL get better, I promise!
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? 14 months.
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? 18 month checkup.
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? Ben being away. It's been...interesting! LOL it's been hard, but I've been very disciplined for myself and very organized and that's helped...but I"m glad I don't have to do it forever, because I think I'd burn out! I take my hat off to single mamas because this shiznit is HARD!
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until? N/A
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well? I drew up a prospective budget before we TTC'd, just to work in the cost of daycare, etc. We didn't save much extra ahead of time, just bought stuff as we went - we weren't worried about saving for when I was on maternity leave since I still got paid while away from work.
Unexpected costs...well, twins was the big one lol! We bought "cheap" stuff - like the least expensive (safe) cribs we could find, etc - but buying two of everything is still $$$. Especially since in Australia, you don't get stuff like furniture at baby showers or from relatives the way people often do in the USA. So all the big ticket items were bought by us.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques? Nope, we don't do it. We actually don't use lotion, either - they have my olive tone, oily skin and don't seem to need it. Should we use it anyway?
THIS x1,000. Please research BabyWise. It is not medically sound at all and can damage your child. Get a copy of The No Cry Sleep Solution and try those methods. That's what worked best for us.
Also, at 3 months, he's still tiny and most likely will not STTN (i.e. not waking to eat at night) for a while. You might set a goal of getting him down for the night by 8 p.m. and feeding him around 10 or 11 p.m. so then he'll hopefully give your the longer 4-5 hour stretch of sleep during the overnight hours.
Libby started doing the 5-6 hour stretches around 4 months but still woke 1-2 times at night to feed until she was about 9 months. Then 1x night until around 13 months. He also might be going through a growth spurt (which happens at 3 months and again at 6 months) which requires more calories.
IMHO, part of being a new parent is getting little-to-no sleep sometimes. TOTALLY frustrating, no doubt. Perhaps you can work something out with your DH where he gets up in the night with LO for one feed and you the other? (Not sure if you're doing that already). That wasn't an option as we BF, but bedsharing helped me feel more rested during that first year. Also, napping after work, if she was down, I'd lay down too. Sometimes chores would have to wait, because I needed to rest. Good luck and hang in there. You're not alone and this too shall pass!
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
As much as it sucks, I think this is pretty normal at this age. Henry woke around 11pm and again at around 2am and 5 am until he was about 5 months. Then he started sleeping until 2am before waking, but he still woke then until about 7 months, when he started to sleep straight through until about 5am. At about 9 months he started sleeping 12 straight hours from 7pm-7am. Like I said, it sucks, but you'll get there!
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?
11 months
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
We're doing well. I'm a little sad about my little boy growing up so much so fast, though! He rarely wants to snuggle with me anymore. Even when it's naptime or bedtime, he will only tolerate snuggling while I'm giving him his bottle. Then he starts squirming as if to say, "all right already, put me down, I want to sleep!" I'm grateful that he's been sleeping pretty well (knock on wood!), but I actually miss the days he wanted to snuggle in my arms and snooze.
I'm having soooo much fun birthday party planning, though! I told myself not to go overboard, and I don't think I am too much, but I love creating things of any kind: food, crafts, whatever. So this party is my excuse to make things both with paper and ribbon and pretzels and chocolate! I'm aware that it's all so for me, not for him, but it makes me happy and gives me a fun summer project.
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
Nothing for several weeks when he'll have his 12-month appt.
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
It's s strange how he's both trying to be independent (like I mentioned above), and also going through separation anxiety at the same time! It's frustrating how he screams when I leave the room, but will also scream and squirm when i try to hold him. He seems to want me near, but not bugging him. Sigh.
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until?
H never wanted to nurse in the first place, so n/a for us.
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
We didn't really save, just spend as we go. We did have to look at a few things in the budget, but it's fine. I have excellent medical insurance, so hospital bills weren't an issue. We bought big items little by little while pregnant, and got some for gifts, too. The biggest expense is definitely childcare, but it's manageable.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques?
Not really. I tried when he was tiny, but he is indifferent to it. In winter I lotioned him after bathtime every night, but now that's it's summer and more humid I really don't. Sometimes I'll put a little on his knees, though, since they are rough from crawling all day.
Last week at our local splash park:
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO? 9 months
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share? are shoes a milestone? I put shoes on her for the 1st time yesterday and she did okay. At first she thought they were funny & just wanted to grab at them, but then she got the hang of it and was walking like normal
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up? she is horribly behind on shots, but until I can get her ears clear, she can't get any. I started using the garlic drops so hopefully those will work some magic
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week? sleep...I am beginning to think she may never STTN
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until? I plan to nurse up to 1 year, but honestly, I have no idea how to wean. I guess something I need to look into.
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well? we did try to save a little. I tried to move $200/week into savings so we would know how it feels to pay daycare (that was tough!) but with the big ticket items as gifts & tax returns, we didn't really need to dip into savings
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques? I wouldn't say it is a massage...LO doesn't sit still long enough for that, but I do rub her down with oil after her bath
1+ week away from 8 months
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
Doing okay. E is army crawling now (not sure if i mentioned that last week?). also, we gave him his first haircut. i wanted to cry afterwards! but i'm used to it now.
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
in 2 weeks for developmental assessment, then 9 month well baby
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
sleep, again! just when i was getting complacent about him sleeping well
, he's started to really fight sleeping on his own. I think he's starting to go through separation anxiety? he starts to scream the minute you walk away from his crib. and he's been putting himself to sleep for months now, so this is really frustrating.
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until?
my goals were to make it to 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, ...hah. now, i have no idea. i plan to stop pumping after 1 year (i'm down to 1x/day at work, though i pump morning and night at home too), and i think we'll nurse morning and night until it's not working for one of us anymore...
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
We spend as we go. But the biggest ticket item we've purchased to date was probably his dresser, from ikea for $300. No unexpected costs (well, I guess except for a $50 copay for an ER visit). Thankfully, my medical insurance covered everything for the birth, even his $90k+ nicu stay. We're not paying for daycare or a nanny right now, which helps a ton too, will have to work that into the budget later this year or early next year.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques?
this was my question
i don't know how to do baby massage, and i don't know if he's like it. we lotion him all the time, since his eczema can get really bad, and he tolerates it, but just barely. i try to control his eczema as much as i can through what i eat, which makes a big difference, but it still flares up from time to time and i don't know why. i'm wondering if i should stop eating gluten, but on top of dairy, soy, and eggs, 
maybe i should give it a shot for a week and see if it helps...
Thank you Lisa for the book suggestion! I will check that out! I thought I had read on the birth month boards some people saying the same things about Baby Wise. I think EASY is well, easy
But I think my problem just lies with feeling that he eats more often than he should. He still is eating every 2 hours somewhere between 3-5 oz a feeding. He has become the fussy eater and won't finish his bottle when I try to dream feed him when I go to bed. Maybe I'm doing the EASY wrong? I don't know 
R has never liked to be swaddled, but I do use a noise machine during the night that I keep on all night long and I shush and pat his butt when putting him down. He does great going to sleep, but not great staying asleep.
BUT it sounds like from everyone he is doing normal although he is still not STTN. I keep reading other littles at his age are STTN so I guess I just feel frustrated since he will be 3 months Saturday and I always hear that is the magic month where things start turning around
Thank you everyone for the suggestions and guidance, I knew I can count on you ladies for your wonderful advice
| Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
| Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
| Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |
how can you tell if it's eczema or just dry skin? LB has a patchunder his one eye that's been there for weeks, and lotion doens't so anything, but he's also getting it on the side of his nose/by his eye and eyebrow on the other side.
Hang in there, every baby truly is different
J slept through the night from 2-4 months and it was BLISS but he started to teethe and was up every 2 hours again... OMG. But yeah, sleep is that mythical thing and when he starts to sleep through you'll feel so amazing 
Like Lisa said, it will happen! But J sounds like R and that he was a hungry little monkey and wanted to eat and I followed his lead and got up and fed him when he was hungry. At 9 months he started sleeping 7:30-6:30am and it's been so great to remember what it feels like to sleep all night, LOL. How's the move going btw?
I love Hawaii!
Tara & Ian . 4/24/2008 . The Kahala Planning . Married
hrm, good question. in the beginning, our pedi diagnosed some patches, and when he's gotten others, i've just assumed it's all the same cause. E gets patches that are red and scaly, and the only thing that really helps is hydrocortisone - pedi said it was safe to use up to 4x/day, but i worry about prolonged exposure
we've literally been using it for months now (though not 4x/day every day), b/c it's the only thing that really helps when he has a bad flare-up. he scratches so much, he pretty much always has little scabs on his face, his neck, his scalp, his legs - anywhere he can reach! 
once he gets a red patch, lotion doesn't do anything for us, but if we apply lotion constantly, that seems to help prevent them a little bit. so when he gets a patch, we use the hydrocortisone to bring it back under control, but use lotion all the time as a preventative measure.
Maybe that's a difference - it bothers him and he scratches. LB doesn't seem to care about the dry skin, so maybe I should just leave it alone too, lol Thanks
Thanks girl! I know I need to be patient and he will get in his own groove when he is ready. It's just so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now
The move is pretty stressful. We are looking at new houses right now still and it's just crazy. Everything is a short sale or bank owned property so our offers always fall through. It's been frustrating. But when the right house was meant to be it will be 
| Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
| Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
| Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |
*big hugs* sorry you're having a rough week
thankfully you have your job still but i know how frustrating it can be to have to "deal with" a toddler that is very emotional/head strong and on your every last nerve! miss A is especially bad right now about stalling before bedtime and
sometimes i am just sooooo exhausted at the end of the day that it's
hard for me to stay patient w/her then. I know you can feel guilty for having those emotions when you should be enjoying that precious time together but i think it's natural/normal so don't feel bad about it and know that most other mamas are going through the same thing!
i don't do lotion every night, just when her skin seems dry
miss A was nursing every 2-3 hrs for the longest time. at that age, at night she'd go about 4 hrs or so...sometimes 5 hrs if i was lucky but she was still waking 2-3x each night for quite some time. like the others mentioned in the posts above, it wasn't until 9 months that she was really "STTN" if you consider that actually sleeping all night and not the actual definition of 5-6 hours. so, even though you feel like others are reporting a much earlier age of STTN, I think you should also keep in mind that mamas are much more likely to boast about their LOs STTN at an early age than the fact that they are not
i think that 3 months is definitely the magic age where they will start sleeping about 4 hrs before waking at night but that's about it
what helped us was cluster feeding in the evening and then i'd put her down for the night around 9-10pm and then do a dream feeding around 11pm-midnight (i'm a night owl). that seemed to allow her to go until about 4am or so before waking for another meal...and then she'd go back to sleep until about 7-8am.
it's hard having to wake up in the middle of the night.... when miss A doesn't sleep her normal 10-11 hrs overnight due to something like teething, I just feel so exhausted and I wonder how on earth I was able to wake up multiple nights each night for months until she was 9 months old! hang in there, it does get better but those early months are hard!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?
she is about 19.5 months old!
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
now that we are at the grandparents', she is picking up on more and more Vietnamese
i'm also beginning to realize that she understands a lot more vietnamese than I thought...so it gives me encouragement to continue speaking it to her at home. it's hard not to default to english when speaking w/her but i am going to try to be better about it now
she went "swimming" for the first time since last summer....she had lots of fun even though she was a little scared to begin with. she loves her puddle jumper life jacket
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
2 yrs
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
just getting her to eat, as she is too interested in exploring/playing around the grandparents' house that she doesn't want to settle down and eat. normally it takes her about an hour to eat a meal and here she eats for about 20-30 min and then says "all done!" and starts having a tantrum if i don't take her down from the high chair
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until?
we haven't weaned yet! it was sooo hard in the beginning that my first goal was 6 wks...after that it was 4 months, then 6 months, then 1 yr. i never really thought i'd go beyond 1 yr but at that point she still seemed like she was still such a baby to me that i didn't have the heart to wean her....and now here we are, at almost 20 months and she is still nursing.
i stopped pumping around 14 months... I was worried I'd dry up but even though i am only at home all day with her 3 days/wk my supply has been just fine. nursing became a whole lot easier once i was able to stop pumping and i think that's why we've been able to go for so long.
when i work she nurses in the morning and then before bed (occasionally as soon as i get home from work too)...on the days i am at home she nurses on avg. 4x/day (sometimes 5) as she typically asks to nurse before/after her nap. i would really like to have her weaned by the age of 2, not b/c i am worried about how others would view it but more b/c I think I'll be ready emotionally and also b/c I know that at this point it is mostly just for comfort for her.
Right now we do the "don't ask, don't refuse" where i don't offer her the breast until she asks for it. the only time I do refuse her sometimes is before bed after she has nursed about a gazillion times (as a stall tactic)!
i am not sure how on earth we'll wean, though, b/c she gets very upset right now when she asks to nurse and I refuse it at bedtime. i hope it won't be bad, but I'm definitely concerned that it won't be a smooth transition
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
we didn't really put aside much savings but we are pretty frugal to begin with so it wasn't a big deal. I did try to work as much as possible and right up until the delivery, since i didn't have a paid maternity leave. we bought almost everything used to save money and didn't have any huge unexpected costs aside from the medical bills associated with my c/s
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques?
I do it occasionally and she LOVES it
she will say "more more" when you stop LOL I didn't really read up on it or anything, just did what i'd normally do, just being more gentle on her 
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
(1) What week are you in/how old is your LO?
13+mo
(2) How are you feeling? Any new milestones or news in the last week to share?
Good! He's running around a lot now and says a couple of words.
(3) Next appointment date? Any big ultrasounds/other exciting stuff coming up?
15mo
(4) What's been your greatest BR challenge this past week?
Was starting to wean a bit--down to 2 nursing sessions a day (once in morning, once before bed, no pumping) but we're back to 3 again.
(5) For those who have, when did you wean and how did you do it? For thos who haven't, when are you planning on BF'ing until?
See #4
(6) How do you/did you go about budgeting for the baby (saved ahead of time, spending as you go, etc.)? Did you have an unexpected costs with your baby or did your budget cover everything pretty well?
We did draft up a budget ahead of time. But I'm fairly frugal and we usually spend as we go, so we ended up doing that and I checked up on how we were doing along the way and it was within our range, so we didn't fret too much about it.
(7) Do you do baby massage? When? How often? Anything in particular your LO likes? Any recommended resources to learn some techniques?
n/a
(8) What other questions would you like to see in upcoming check-ins?
How often, if at all, do your LOs have playdates with other kids?
**PIP a picture if you like!!**
No pip but smart that you combined the two weekly posts into one! I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier =P
This and this! Yeah, they really do pick up on the different languages more than I thought too so I try to speak to B whenever I can! And ditto on the play > eat thing...he's always signaling "all done!" after 3 bites, and I'm like ok, there's NO WAY you're full!
Yeah, I had eczema growing up and it was really really itchy. So I think LB's is probably either just dry skin/not eczema or a very mild case if any...