From the very beginning…
Archive for September, 2007
Seeking Words of Wisdom
217 years
I’ve made the decision to wean Ian off of breast milk. He just had his first tooth pop through and while he hasn’t bit me yet, I really don’t want that to happen. On top of that, since starting solids, he’s been nursing less and my supply is really low. I’m never sure how much he’s getting out of me, so I’m switching to formula so I know exactly what he is getting.
Weaning him off breast milk shouldn’t be too much of a problem. He already receives one bottle of formula every night before bed and whenever we’re out and about, so it’s nothing new for him. However, he still gets up at night and I’m guilty of letting him use me as a pacifier. Nursing him has always been the best way to get him to go back to sleep.
I’ve determined that tonight we’re going to change that. I’ve already introduced him to a pacifier and he seemed to calm down after he could suck on that. I have a bottle at the ready with formula standing by when he wants to get up around 2am (if he stays on schedule). I’m hoping I can get him to use a pacifier again when he gets up at 4am.
I’m hoping once I get him weaned off of me during the night, and strictly on a bottle, he’ll become disgusted with the whole thing and sleep through the night. I know I’m rambling a bit now, but does anyone have any words of wisdom that I might be able to use? I’m hoping I still have the determination to do this at 2am when I’m usually the sleepiest. I could use all of the support I can get right now.
7 Months
1
Another month gone by and with it a lot of changes. Ian is starting to grow faster now. I know it was suppose to happen; the doctors said his weight would slow down and his height would kick into gear, however, I don’t believe I’m ready for it. It’s kind of odd to get a set of pajamas out and find they fit one night and then two nights later they don’t fit anymore. Ian is definitely starting to lose his chubbiness. Don’t worry, his Michelin rolls are still there, but you can actually tell where his neck is now. He’s losing a lot of it due to the crawling. Yes, he is on the move, so be warned…you may want to baby proof your house if Ian is coming over. I caught him chasing Toby the other day. He followed her all the way to the bedroom. It was so cute, but it made us realize that we couldn’t put off getting a gate any longer.
All of the teething discomfort we’ve been going through the last couple of months has finally come to a conclusion. He has a tooth and he bite me today. Granted, not where it would really hurt, but he was definitely hungry and was letting me know. You can’t really see the tooth (maybe teeth) yet, but you can feel it. Hopefully, this means that we’re going to get a break before the next tooth wants to pop up.
We’ve been given the go ahead to give Ian some meats now and he’s tried chicken, beef, and ham. We had a little set back with beef. We’re not sure if he was just being fussy that day or if the beef didn’t sit well, so we took a day off from that and when we tried giving it to him again, he seemed fine. We have veal and turkey up next. We also went out and bought a food processor. It isn’t anything spectacular, but I’ve been told it works well. Now we get to try some of the fun veggies – avocados, cucumbers, green bell peppers, zucchini, etc. Since the food processor is a hand crank, it kind of mangled the grapes we tried last night, so hopefully it’ll work better with the veggies. If it doesn’t, maybe we’ll find an electric one. We did process some of the chicken I made for dinner tonight. It worked well, except we had to add a little water to mush it up.
I can’t really think of anything else that sticks out for this month.
Gatekeeper
0A couple of significant things happened over the weekend. The first being that Ian’s Aunt Lori was married in a hot air balloon. This may not seem like an important event in Ian’s life, but it was because he was there for the flight and chase. Ian saw his first hot air balloon inflate up close and personal. He was riveted, but that’s about it.
An event finally occurred. We were told over a month ago that Ian had started teething. Well, guess what. His first tooth has broken the gum. There really isn’t much of a tooth yet, but it’s obvious that you’re not feeling the gum anymore. For one, it’s kind of sharp and no he hasn’t bitten me yet.
And last, but by no means the least aggravating, Ian is officially crawling. It’s kind of a commando crawl, but he can get from point A to point B pretty fast. He was scooting around for a bit, but now he’s chasing the cat. We finally had to get a gate and he’s going to be kept in the living room from now on.
Useful Info for New Moms
017 years
by Jaxon
in Useful Info
Whenever I meet a new mom, I always think about what I was going through when I was in her place. Usually I had a ton of questions and was looking for things to do. Over the past seven months, I’ve actually have found a bunch of useful sites and I’ve been passing them along to anyone who will listen. I finally realized that maybe I should say something on my site, that way more people have a chance to see it. The following are some of the useful information I’ve accumulated over the past couple of months that haven’t made an appearance here as of yet. I’m sure this list will grow, but it’s a pretty good starting point right now. If you know of any other good sites, let me know. I’m always looking for more.
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Raising Them – It’s a discussion board for all kinds of moms. There’s a group called “first time moms” that I belong to and it has really helped me. I can ask a lot of the questions that I don’t want to bother the peds with (aka suggestions on sleep routines, how to get them to sleep longer, etc). Other mom’s will generally get back to you pretty quick. I usually get answers within an hour or two. Each group (there’s a different group for everything – moms with boys, moms with twins, etc.) has a chat room. Whether they use it or not, I’m not sure, but I know there are a couple of moms who get together after 8:30pm in the First Time Mom’s group.
Ian Hawthorn – This site. I am using it as a journal and started it while I was pregnant. Anytime I find information that I find useful, I stick it in a category called “useful info“. I will also put up random comments about issues I’m having and I have people who will comment and give suggestions.
YWCA Mom’s Group – this is a group of a bunch of moms that get together every Thursday for social hour, more or less. Here’s their spiel: “We are a diverse group of SAHMs who meet once a week at the YWCA. Some weeks we have outings, other weeks a guest speaker and sometimes we just hang out and chat about what’s going on in our lives. Childcare is available for a nominal fee or children can stay with Mom. New Moms are always welcome.” If you’re not in the Oakland county area, then I would definitely check your local YWCA or YMCA to see if they have a similar group or if they know of any in the area.
The public library generally has a bunch of stuff you’ll be able to take the little one to. Our library has a monthly story time (usually the last saturday of the month). They also have a lot of programs during the week (both during the day and at night). This summer they had a puppet show and a rock concert for the little ones. Both were really great. The rock band was Candy Band and they did a lot of children songs.
Mom to Mom Sales Listing – it lists a bunch of mom-to-mom sales. They are basically a huge garage sale where everything is kid related. You can find all kinds of stuff. I went to one last week and found a snow suit, bunting for Ian’s carseat, tons of clothes, a jumper, etc. Another good place to find stuff for kids is http://www.craigslist.org. I’ve sold and bought stuff from there and everything is generally really good. On a side note, I have a travel swing I am trying to get rid of, if you’re interested.
If you’re looking for information on the different stages of infants/toddlers, I would check out Born Learning. A couple other good sites ar the e Enfamil and Similiac webpages. Make sure you sign up for whatever it is they have. They’ll send you free cans of formula and coupons every so often. Enfamil will also send out a newsletter called “your kid at….” every month.
Boys & Germs
117 years
I was sent this article – Too Clean? Fight Against Germs Fuels Allergy Increase – and it made me think of George Carlin. I know, strange, but he has a bit where he’s complaining about just this sort of thing. How people are so worried about germs these days that it’s obnoxious. Granted, I try to clean everything before Ian gets his hands on it, but I don’t believe I’m going overboard. After all, Ian is a boy and sooner or later I’m going to come across him eating a worm or dirt or something equally disgusting. He might as well become accustomed to germs now….he’s going to be getting into them whether I want him to or not.
Heaven help us…it’s starting
1He’s not there completely, but Ian has definitely started to crawl. It’s more of a commando crawl, but he’ll get the hand of it soon enough.
7th Month Milestones
017 years
Enfamil’s 7 Month Milestones
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Dropping Games
This month your baby will enjoy dropping things and watching them fall. Sitting in his high chair creates the perfect opportunity to drop a spoon. A rattle. Whatever else is handy. Pick it up and he’ll drop it again. This cycle can become frustrating for Mom and Dad. But your baby is learning lots in the process.
Amazing as it seems, dropping helps your baby to understand an object’s characteristics. Heavy or light? Hard or soft? Noisy or quiet? Your baby is also learning that his actions make things happen. This is the scientific principle known as cause and effect. And your baby is developing a memory of the object. Remembering that it still exists as it falls through the air and lands on the floor.
Reaching with One Hand
As your baby masters sitting up, you’ll notice that he’s beginning to grab things with one hand instead of two. This step allows your little guy to make all kinds of new discoveries. Holding a toy with only one hand means that he can use the other to do something useful. Push a button, for example, or pull a lever. In the next few months, he’ll get much better at using his hands as tools.
Fingers are tools, too. Have you noticed that your baby sometimes picks things up with a palmer grasp, using his fingers to push something into his palm? Around this age, he may also begin picking up small things by pressing his thumb against the base of his pointer finger. This is called the scissors grasp.
Hearing and Language
Your seven-month-old is a remarkably good listener. That’s why he’s already making big strides toward learning how language works. He listens carefully to the words he hears most often, like “mommy,” “daddy,” and his own name.
Amazingly, your baby knows the sound of some familiar words. When babies hear people talk, they hear a continuous stream of words, all slurred together without periods or commas. But your seven-month-old is already learning to pick out where words begin and end. Language experts call this word segmentation. The next step is understanding what words mean. Word comprehension usually begins between eight and ten months.
Brain Teaser
Did you know…that your baby is becoming more aware of new things, which can make him feel wary or fearful? This may be happening because new connections are forming between the cortex and the deep brain structures associated with emotions.
Attention Getter
Your baby enjoys a rich social life now. He may respond to his name, and is excited to see people he recognizes. He’ll babble or cough to get your attention, and raise his arms to be picked up. You may notice he’s dropping things, too. But the goal isn’t really to get your attention. He’s actually learning about the object and about the principle of cause-and-effect.
A Nutritional Nugget
No doubt, you’ve already heard about the importance of vitamin C in your baby’s diet. You can rest assured that if you’re breastfeeding or feeding your baby Enfamil LIPIL® infant formula, you’re giving him his vitamin C. Not to mention the other nutrients he needs to grow and develop, like DHA and ARA. Remember these important nutrients found naturally in breast milk are also found in Enfamil LIPIL. With breast milk levels* of these nutrients, Enfamil LIPIL is the only brand that’s been shown in independent clinical studies to improve brain and eye development.†And the blend of nutrients in Enfamil LIPIL supports the developing immune system.
To ensure your baby is getting all the vitamin C he needs, doctors recommend that your baby drink breast milk or formula for at least the first twelve months of life. Cow’s milk lacks the proper amounts of vitamin C and iron that your baby needs to develop. Plus, it contains higher levels of proteins and minerals that are not appropriate for babies.
Also, now’s the time to talk to your doctor, if you haven’t already done so, about expanding baby’s menu of solid foods.
Life of the Party
At this age, your little one is a master at taking center stage. And since your baby is such a showoff, it’s a great time to show him off. While you’re widening his social circle, make sure it includes babysitters and relatives who might help care for him in the future. In a month or two, stranger anxiety is bound to set in. So, in the meantime, why not enjoy his willingness to be with others?
