Ask Anyone Anything

[crazygame]

I have been concerned for some of the ladies here.  Feel free to ignore me if you don't want to update.  I hope I am not overreaching here. 

matildasun- How is your leg healing?  Are you back to riding a bike yet?  It's so cool that you bike your kids around.

hockeywife- How is your baby? I think I remember there being some concerns when you were pregnant.  I hope everyone is doing great.

@hannymaren and littlespitfire- How are you guys?  You were both going through a rough time a few weeks ago and I have been thinking about you both.  I was able to relate to so much of what both of you shared.  At that time, I was trying to find the time to write out a post about my work and marriage problems, but couldn't get it done.  I read the responses to your posts and they really helped me.  Thank you for being so open and honest with this board.  You are two of my favorite posters and I really want happiness for both of you.

[matildasun]

My ankle is much better, thanks for asking. We started biking a few weeks ago. I am so out of shape, hopefully that will change as I start to move more.

[ladygrey]

bananapancakes, any updates on your DS?

[justjen]

ANYONE who was on the PM updates (since I am not )-- have there been updates for the Vaba/JLM thing? PM me if you're not authorized to share on the board 

[mrshandy]

Everyone - When did you introduce a sippy cup to your LO? Any preferred brands? I think I remember something about the hard tipped ones being bad for teeth development.

[rikki]

Apr 23, 2014 10:06:44 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

Everyone - When did you introduce a sippy cup to your LO? Any preferred brands? I think I remember something about the hard tipped ones being bad for teeth development.

E went straight to a straw at 7 months.  I had purchased a couple of sippys but they all leaked and after the first time I gave it to him and he got soaked, I gave up.  He took to the straw really easily. These are the 2 types we use: 

www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/the-safe-2-in1-sippy-cup/130037

www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/innobaby-sippin-39-smart-ez-flow-straw-sippy-10-ounce/208629?Keyword=sippy

[Brie]

Texans: what is the deal with bluebonnets and photos therein?

[wavepool]

Apr 23, 2014 9:40:21 GMT -5 ladygrey said:

bananapancakes, any updates on your DS?

I've been wondering the same. Hope he's doing well!

[niq]

Apr 23, 2014 10:06:44 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

Everyone - When did you introduce a sippy cup to your LO? Any preferred brands? I think I remember something about the hard tipped ones being bad for teeth development.

We tried a NUK sippy right when we started solids at 5.5 months. It ... didn't go well at first. Be sure to use milk the first few times to keep baby interested. He still can't grab it and feed himself yet unless he's reclining, but if we get him started, he'll hold it in place.

It doesn't leek and doesn't require a PhD to assemble. It has a soft tip.

[sookie]

Apr 23, 2014 10:41:53 GMT -5 Brie said:

Texans: what is the deal with bluebonnets and photos therein?

It's the state flower and they're pretty. I don't think we'll do them because there have been reports locally on our news the last few years about the number of rattlesnake bites to children rising due to people sitting their kids down in a random field of bluebonnets. You're also typically off of a highway or busy road which isn't safe either. I love looking at them when we travel, but I'm not sure we'll actually do pictures of HJ (or future children) in bluebonnets.

[blueberry10]

Everyone: does a straw cup exist that isn't a total PITA to clean? I don't love putting plastic stuff in the dishwasher but hand washing various straw cup pieces makes me crazy.

[Brie]

Apr 23, 2014 10:51:11 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Apr 23, 2014 10:41:53 GMT -5 Brie said:

Texans: what is the deal with bluebonnets and photos therein?

Hater. Bluebonnets are our state flower. They're protected and you can't pick them. They only bloom in a short window of time. They are a beautiful wildflower. We take state pride in EVERYTHING so of course this extends to bluebonnets.

Not a hater, I was just wondering if there was something about them I didn't know!

Also they make my allergies flare just looking at pictures, LOL, and my kid would do the same since he's inherited that from me, LOL.

[simpsongal]

crazygame how are you doing? Did you talk to someone? Are you feeling better?

Also, Jenny's post made me wonder - what's considered STTN?  J is sleeping between 7 to 9 hours.  But he goes down around 8:30 or 9pm, so I'm up in the wee hours of the morning.

[dcn]

Apr 23, 2014 11:14:56 GMT -5 blueberry10 said:

Everyone: does a straw cup exist that isn't a total PITA to clean? I don't love putting plastic stuff in the dishwasher but hand washing various straw cup pieces makes me crazy.

I use a nipple brush to clean them out. Well I did. We don't really use them anymore other than for occasional water when all the other sippys are dirty. Milk made them so gross so I really encouraged a non straw cup when we went to cows milk.

[djc315]

Apr 23, 2014 9:40:21 GMT -5 ladygrey said:

bananapancakes, any updates on your DS?

I saw on the app that she posted an birth story with an update on GP.

[turtlegirl]

Apr 23, 2014 11:18:39 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Also, Jenny's post made me wonder - what's considered STTN?  J is sleeping between 7 to 9 hours.  But he goes down around 8:30 or 9pm, so I'm up in the wee hours of the morning.

I think everyone has their own definition. Some people say the "medical" definition is 5-6 hours a night. But I don't care. I don't consider it STTN until they go to sleep before me and wake up 10+ hours later (preferably after 6am). 

I think at 2-3 months old DS2 was going the same thing and when people asked I would say he was sleeping well, but woke up 1x a night. 

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2014 12:22:23 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

@bettyhomewrecker33- how's your crazy SIL? Is she still hounding you for baby stuff?

noodleskooze- still changing careers? How's the search going?

Nah, she hasn't hit me up for anything as of late. Hopefully they're done with one because I can't imagine handling her assbag H and TWO babies. 

[oswin]

Apr 23, 2014 10:51:11 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Apr 23, 2014 10:41:53 GMT -5 Brie said:

Texans: what is the deal with bluebonnets and photos therein?

Hater. Bluebonnets are our state flower. They're protected and you can't pick them. They only bloom in a short window of time. They are a beautiful wildflower. We take state pride in EVERYTHING so of course this extends to bluebonnets.

Actually that's an urban legend: www.snopes.com/legal/bluebonnets.asp. I looked it up after our neighbors told us that (we moved to Texas recently). But they are beautiful.

[bananapancakes]

Apr 23, 2014 9:40:21 GMT -5 ladygrey said:

bananapancakes, any updates on your DS?

Yes, I was just going to post an update. Things are looking much better for us. All of his tests have come back with very reassuring results. He got his feeding tube out and is doing much better with eating. I got to hold him skin to skin for the first time yesterday which was absolute heaven. We put him to the breast for the first time this morning, expecting him to just maybe smell and lick a little but he latched right on and sucked for about 10 minutes and he managed to get 46ml which is much more than he was getting by bottle/feeding tube. Luckily my milk has come in with no problems and I have been pumping round the clock to make sure it is there for him.

The doctors are all very happy with his progress. So happy in fact that we are getting kicked out sometime in the next 24 hours. They are currently working on arranging transport to a less specialized hospital, closer to home where we will stay for a few days for a little extra monitoring to make sure that feeding continues to go well. If all continues to go well, we may have him home by the weekend. *crosses fingers*

Here is a picture of my handsome boy!

[niq]

Apr 23, 2014 11:18:39 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

crazygame how are you doing? Did you talk to someone? Are you feeling better?

Also, Jenny's post made me wonder - what's considered STTN?  J is sleeping between 7 to 9 hours.  But he goes down around 8:30 or 9pm, so I'm up in the wee hours of the morning.

At 2-3 months we were getting 6-7 hours in the long stretch, and then 2-3 hours after nursing. He'd go down around 10, so it worked out pretty well.

Of the 7 families in our PEPS group, we were getting the 2nd most sleep. The other 5 families were happy when they got 5 hours in a row.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2014 11:14:56 GMT -5 blueberry10 said:

Everyone: does a straw cup exist that isn't a total PITA to clean? I don't love putting plastic stuff in the dishwasher but hand washing various straw cup pieces makes me crazy.

I use Take & Toss straw cups. I throw them in the dishwasher, and when they get funky (chewed straw, warped lid, etc) I throw it out. They're $1 each so NBD. Not the most environmentally friendly thing I know, but washing parts was making me crazy.

[Deleted]

bananapancakes I am so glad to hear that! You and your little guy have been in my thoughts and prayers, I am glad he's doing well!

Ashley&Scott how are you? I feel like we haven't "talked" in awhile, though I think of you and M often. I don't see you around here much lately. I hope everything's okay.

[toesie]

bananapancakes: I can't like that update enough!

[Ashley&Scott]

@supergreen - Thanks! I'm still around, just not much time to post lately. Work has been crazy. I'm also making an effort to be step away from the internet at night after M goes to bed so I can spend more time with DH. 

[sookie]

Everyone: when did you start puffs? We've done some purees, but haven't tried anything else yet. I might put some frozen berries in a mesh feeder for her to try this weekend, but since she doesn't have teeth and hasn't tried puffs yet, is that a bad idea? I know she won't get large chunks in her mouth (or any chunks based on the size of the mesh) from the berries, but would it be easier/better to try puffs first and then move to something in the mesh feeder for her to try? She's 5 1/2 months.

ETA: I know there's been a post on this before, but I keep getting an error searching on the app - what were your child's favorite puffs?

[rootbeerfloat]

@this, what was your name at the old site?

[crazygame]

Apr 23, 2014 10:16:07 GMT -5 littlespitfire said:

crazygame, thanks for asking!  We are doing better. A few things that helped have been:

- automating as much of our lives as possible. We may eat the same thing for dinner 3x a week, but it's easy and we're fed. I also pack lunches and breakfasts for us for the week on Sunday, and bought enough Tupperware containers to make this possible. It sounds weird, but that and decluttering the house has helped a lot.  Oh, and we're getting a few things done (new fence, refinishing floors) so I don't hate the house as much, haha.

- my new schedule at work takes a ton of stress off us.  Having a definite time that I leave the house (between 7:30-7:40) and everything after that is all DH really makes my life a lot less stressful.  I do help out before I leave by dressing DD or packing her bag or DH's lunch.  Similarly, having pickup be all on me eliminates the dance we would sometimes do about who picks up on certain days, so there are no hard feelings stemming from that anymore.  Both the pickup discussions and the morning routine/lack thereof brought up like half of our marital problems on a daily basis.  Not having that is awesome.

- life automation has led to earlier bedtimes for me.  More sleep = happier (less spitty) spitfire. 

- I made an effort to reduce our errand time on the weekends in favor of good old-fashioned family time.  We can put lots of things on autoship, and maybe I don't *have* to go to Carters once every 8 weeks. 

- "divide and conquer" has worked well and so has getting a sitter for times we need to get shit done.  Last Saturday, we took DD to the diner for breakfast, and her favorite sitter "Sheesha" (Alecia) showed up after.  I went to Target while DH cleaned out our $240/month storage unit.  I got some "me" time, scored a good deal on a rug we needed, and we got halfway to empty on the storage unit.  After nap, we took DD on a playdate.  We got stuff done and got family time too - everyone wins. 

- going on WW has helped me shed about 8 lbs and made me a happier person, knowing that I'm not carrying around 20+ extra lbs. and I'm more in control of my life/body.  I still have a ways to go, but I'm on the right path. 

This is awesome. I am really proud of you for making positive changes in your life and would love to use some of these ideas in my own. I hope things just keep getting better.

[shellbear09]

Apr 23, 2014 10:12:57 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

@fivedogs, how come you're so awesome? I mean, like, are you a car seat tech or just an enthusiastic amateur? You seem so knowledgeable about everything.

This is true.  I love my radian I got recently and @fivedogs gave great info.

[MamaMaui24]

bricco how's your boy doing? Hope you're both doing well.

[Deleted]

@hannymaren I "liked" all the hard work you're putting into your marriage, and that you're in a better place. Not, you know, the problems you're having or anything like that. I went through a rough patch with my DH too, and after several CTJ talks we're doing much, much better.