Adventures in Bottle Feeding

So we have had an interesting couple of weeks with feeding. Hadley has all of a sudden decided that bottles are for babies and that she is not a baby. We were feeding her five bottles a day (all of which she was scarfing down)until a couple of weeks ago, then she stopped getting hungry for the second bottle. That was fine, we just went to a 4-bottle-a-day schedule (which we were ecstatic about because that meant that we had enough bottles that we only had to wash bottles every other day). But now the past couple of weeks she will drink 2 or 3 oz. of a bottle and then she will flat out refuse to drink any more. She will eat solids until she bursts, but no bottle. At first I thought she was teething, but she isn't really acting like she is in that much pain. Then I thought she had an ear infection. I took her to the doctor. The doctor said her ears were a little red and she used a tool to measure the thickness of the fluid. But the doctor said she didn't have a full-blown ear infection yet, it just looked like she was starting to get one--so we put her on antibiotics.

We thought she was doing better for a few days, but now she is back to refusing bottles. We have been trying everything! Warm bottles, cold bottles, bought higher nipple levels so she would not have to suck as hard, tried a sippy cup with and without the spill-proof valve. We have ended up just mixing her formula with her food most of the time, but there is only so much you can mix in before it gets too thin. This is really frustrating! The problem is that she is not getting enough fluids by only drinking a couple of ounces at each meal, and I don't want her to get dehydrated or constipated. Constipation has been an issue already. Finally, tonight, I got frustrated and just took the nipple and lid off the bottle and held it up to her mouth like a cup. And I will have you know she drank the whole darn thing, and wanted more!

I don't know about you guys, but I am really looking forward to her being able to tell us what she wants, because sometimes it takes me forever to figure things out, and then when I finally figure out what she wants, it seems so simple like I should have known it the whole time!

P.S.--Hadley is saying mama now! It is totally indiscriminate, and she has absolutely no idea what she is saying, but I just love it!

--Amanda

8 months and teething again!

I just cannot believe that Hadley is already 8 months old! I guess I will be saying that from now on every time she reaches a milestone. She actually just moved to the "big baby" class at daycare, which is for babies from about 5 months to 1 year. She has also started creeping round, and she can actually scoot around pretty quickly so we had to start baby proofing. We still aren't finished with that process, but it is coming along. I'm not doing too much, because I want her to get into some things so that I can tell her no and teach her not to get into them. But we did plug up all the outlets, got rid of all my candle and pebble sets, and moved all the cleaning supplies, etc. up high (although we did leave the dish soap under the sink and just locked the cabinet).

We also have all wood floor in our downstairs, so we got a playmat for it--not so much for baby proofing as just to help her be more comfortable when she crawls round. One of my coworkers told me about GreatMats.com. You can get just about any color mat you want, and you can even design your own playmat with your particular colors. We just got an 8x8 burgundy mat to match our living room. I love it! It can be rinsed off or washed in the tub easily, and the mats don't soak up the water. It also comes with edgers so that the edges and corners are straight. It was a little more expensive than the ones you see at WalMart, Target, etc., but so far I think it was worth it.

Hadley is also teething again--this time her top two front teeth. I have been looking for some good teethers for a while, and I finally found a "nuby" teether. I think I got it at Target. It is a soft round silicone teether with lots of little ridges to help stimulate their gums, and it even comes with a case.

Hope everyone and their babies are doing well, and hope we can all get together soon!

--Amanda

New name for the jumperoo

If you are offended by poo talk, just stop now.
Adam and I are officially changing the name of our jumperoo to the jumperpoo.  It never fails.  He could have already gone twice that day, but something about the jumping/gravity ALWAYS makes Isaac go poo.  It's pretty stinking hillarious to watch him jump for a couple of minutes and then see him grunt the all familiar poo noise. Its also kind of nice to have a sure way of getting him to go before we leave the house. I've done a little research on it, and it seems like we are not the only ones with this problem (thought I don't really think its a problem.)  I think its pretty funny, but that's probably cause we haven't had an all out blowout on the fabric covering yet.  Check back with me later.

Nothing Earth shattering, but learned none the less

• Nothing is better than a family hug as Daddy goes off to work.
  
• Even with the time constraints of fitting in naps, feedings, tummy time, reading time, rolling practice, standing time, and sitting, there is always time for a good cuddle.
  
• One of the most annoying sounds in the world is the sound of a baby's toy whose batteries are about to die.
  
• One of the biggest pre-baby mistakes I made was buying any stuffed animals. a. Your friends and family will buy him more than he needs. b. It just adds to the laundry.
  
• Making up Isaac's end of the conversation is one of the greatest simple pleasures in life. I especially love our made up dialogue in the car as he babbles at the other drivers.
  
• It never fails that Isaac will decide to lay the biggest man-size poo ever the minute after I've changed him into a fresh diaper. This is usually just following a nice bath as well.
  
• While we're on the subject of poo, Isaac is usually a once a day kind of guy. Nothing is more thrilling ~sarcasm~ as "Bonus Poo Day," as Adam and I have affectionately named it.
  
• As a soprano, I love the fact that Isaac has mastered the lip trill in at least 2 octaves.
  
• Being a mom is amazing, but seeing Adam being a dad brings the kind of joy to my life I never could have imagined.
  
• As sad as it makes me to leave for work, I am twice (probably more) as happy to come home.
  
• I never underestimate the feeling of finding something on clearance or on sale. I'm still bragging to Adam about the highchair I found for 24 bucks!
  
• Baby food became less fun the first time I was wearing white and Isaac sneezed avocado everywhere. I now have an extra painting shirt.
  
• I love my mom even more now that I'm a mom. The endless stream of great advice and support is amazing.
  
• I love the way that Isaac's personality comes through his eyes. The glimmer in his eyes as the cats lick his feet is priceless.
  
• I am so glad we live in the age of digital photography. I can take 1 million pictures and delete 999,999 of them without any of my Catholic guilt creeping in.
  
• I love that my day starts and ends with a huge smile from Isaac. It carries me through the times when folding another burp cloth just seems too daunting.
  
  My baby boy is now 5 months old. Here are just a few of my favorite moments so far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-YbWM1VV6s
  ~ Andrea

Finger Foods

Has anyone started finger foods yet? If so, what did you start with and how did you introduce it? I don't think Hadley is quite ready yet, but I think she will be within the next few months. She is starting to try to grab the oatmeal/babyfood off the spoon--which does not usually work out so well for her or her outfit.

--Amanda

Mila's Daydreams

http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

You all must check out this blog! Looking at me makes me feel so uncreative but it also brings such a smile to my face!

-Emily

We have a schedule, finally!!!

Well, I went back to work about a month and a half ago now, and things have been BUSY! I am really happy to be back at work, but it is a lot of juggling, even though I am not working as much as I used to. Unfortunately, my job is not the kind of job that allows me to have a set schedule, and it is very intense--sometimes I do not get a drink of water or go to the bathroom the whole time I am there. But the one thing about my job that I now appreciate is that it has taught me to be flexible. I now think I actually might be really bad at a 9 to 5 job because I cannot keep myself on a set schedule anymore since I have gotten so used to adjusting my schedule every time the workflow changed. Flexibility has been an invaluable skill over the past 7 months with a baby, and is even more invaluable now that we have added working back into the mix. There is just so much other stuff to stress over, that it really helps not to add another layer by stressing over whether I am staying on a schedule.

However, schedules and routine are important for babies and kids, so we do at least like to try to keep Hadley on a schedule. We still don't really have Hadley on a rigid schedule, but I am happy to report that we have a "most of the time" schedule now, FINALLY! She has been eating about every 3 hours for several months now, but we never could get the times down because her naps were very unscheduled, and since her eating times depended on her wake-up times and nap-times, it was really hard to figure out a schedule for her. But within about the last 2 months, she has finally settled into a regular sleeping/napping pattern. She is not a 12-hour a night sleeper, but she sleeps for about 10 hours every night. And she goes to bed so easily--we read her a story and rock her for about 3 lullabyes, and then we put her down in her crib and she falls asleep on her own--normally without a single tear! And she is like her momma in that she likes to wake up early, eat breakfast and play a little bit and then go back to bed! So her first nap is at 8am every morning--which actually works out really well for me working because I can take a shower and get ready for work during her first nap.

Daycare is going well so far. There have been little issues here and there, but the daycare we take her to is always very responsive to any concerns that we have. She loves being able to watch and interact with the other kids, and we have worked out our schedules so that she is only there for about 5 or six hours a day, so it's kind of like Mother's Morning Out. We are very vigilant about letting the daycare know when we don't like something though. I think one of the most important things about any childcare situation is communicating with the person that is caring for your child. Every child and every parent are different, and other people don't know your child as well as you do, so you just have to tell them when they do something that does not work for your child. Sometimes I feel like "that mom" when I have to tell them to do something differently, but they never really seem to mind that much, and I've decided that I'm just going to have to get over that. It will probably be like that, even when she starts school--the kids that get the most out of school are the ones that have the parents that are involved and concerned about what they are doing at school. So, for the next 20 years or so, I'm putting on my "that mom" hat and wearing it proudly!

--Amanda