― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:15 (eighteen years ago) link
Louis vs. Ophelia CUETNESS FITE!
― truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:15 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rebekkah (burntbrat), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:19 (eighteen years ago) link
ava is lovely, wow.
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:25 (eighteen years ago) link
People who are into it are really into it (and I can see why), people who aren't, just aren't. It's hard to say there's an average american view toward it. My husband has two brothers and neither of their wives breastfed, and neither did my mother-in-law, so she was asking a lot of questions. She thought I must not be producing enough milk when we said he ate every two hours (actually I am producing too much, it's just that it gets digested more quickly than formula) etc etc. Not exactly supportive but not discouraging either, it's like it's just another weird thing I do.
If your experience is similar to mine, Nathalie, you're just getting past the hardest part, where everything hurts and you're both figuring things out. I remember in the third week it suddenly turned into the most awesome thing ever. I can't imagine fiddling with a bottle and formula every time the kid cries, he's pissed off enough by waiting until I get a boob out.
The golden rule regarding sleeping/feeding is if the kid is making enough poop and pee, don't worry about how often they eat. If they're not 'producing' enough, it's possible that they're not eating enough and don't have the energy to wake up. Enjoy the long stretches of sleep. Louis does pretty well in this regard too. I sleep with him in my bed because he goes longer between night feedings that way--only wakes up once or twice. And it's so nice to cuddle with him. Sleeping with a baby is a bit controversial but I'm going with anything that makes the family happy.
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Archel (Archel), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:27 (eighteen years ago) link
My wife tried breastfeeding, but didn't take to it and we switched to similac after 2 weeks or so.
Here's a picture of him at Halloween, hope this works. If for some reason it doesn't, will anybody be kind enough to tell me how to post pics?
ihttp://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tcbeing4/detail?.dir=5759&.dnm=5a75.jpg&.src=ph
― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― Panther Pink (Pinkpanther), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:32 (eighteen years ago) link
3rd grader began reading before she was four, and read The Secret Garden and The Wizard of Oz the summer before going into Kindergarten. She still reads constantly, but now she reads crap like Mary Kate & Ashley and Hillary Duff adventures (blech). She had a part in the school play a few months ago and now is convinced that she wants to be a drama queen, so we're getting her in classes soon.
Kindergartener is the typical boy. He likes bugs and boogers and annoying his sister. He is quite possibly the biggest dork ever. I have a little media file of him dancing in a poodle skirt, water socks, and a bridal veil to the Miami Vice theme song. He likes to make everyone laugh and he's friends with everyone.
Baby is still a baby. She screams and laughs and punches and spits mashed squash all over the dining room. She rolls and rolls but has yet to fall off anything. She can almost sit up by herself. And she's huge. Last doctor visit she weighed 18 pounds. I think she's in the 90% for weight and only 25% for height. But all my kids were porkers that evened out when they started walking. So I don't care. I'll keep feeding her when she's hungry.
― Rebekkah (burntbrat), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:32 (eighteen years ago) link
http://homepage.mac.com/rebmcdowell/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2006-01-13%2009.25.54%20-0800/Image-0FE7D829845511DA.jpg
― mcd (mcd), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:33 (eighteen years ago) link
One step-son, Sean who is 29. One daughter, Sarah who turned 24 this week. One step-daughter, Carolyn who is 23. One son, Jordan who is 22.
Sean and Carolyn live in Seattle and work for the same commercial printer. They are both heavily into bikes. Sean does beautiful things with flowers and did the arrangements for our wedding 2 years ago. Carolyn did do wonderful black and white photography, but got bored of it. She's studying urban environmental planning, off and on. I met them for the first time a few months after I began dating their father, when they came to a holiday party, and I got the opportunity to really get to know Carolyn when she lived with us for 2 years.
Sarah is in the master's program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, studying Spanish and focusing on translation theory. Her bachelor's degree is in Spanish and art. She's engaged (which troubles me), and they were to marry last year, but have postponed it indefinitely. We are going to Las Vegas next weekend to see her.
Jordan lives in Florida and is a business analyst for a bank. He doesn't call his mother nearly enough, and I get panicky occasionally when I don't hear from him for months on end.
From 1996 - 1999, I had a job that required incessant travel. Fortunately, I was able to take Sarah and Jordan with me on several long trips, including one of 4 weeks to various parts of Australia (Sydney and Darwin mostly). We are all very computer-literate and began keeping in contact electronically. In 1999, I made the wretching decision to divorce their father, and I moved from AZ to Seattle. Due to their school situation, the kids stayed in AZ with their father, visiting me for summers and occasionally at holidays. After Sarah began college, Jordan began failing school. Everything, including driver's ed. He spent his life, 20 hours a day, on-line playing Everquest. His father, who has his own problems, didn't notice and when he did, didn't know what to do. After a summer staying with us in Seattle, Jordan decided to stay with us, opting to get a GED and try community college and working. He is a self-taught programmer. Due to his incessant gaming, he can type (accurately) 180 wpm, so eventually he got a job doing data entry for a bank. This repetitive work bored him, so he wrote a few programs to handle the task. Someone noticed he was processing several thousand times the data of anyone else, and now he's doing well for himself with them.
Except for a few months of maternity leave, I worked. When we moved to AZ (ca. 1990), their father stayed home with them while I worked. This worked out well for the kids, but not so for him or our situation. Anyway, they have turned out well, and I'm immensely proud of them.
― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:33 (eighteen years ago) link
Kids are totally underrated.
― don weiner (don weiner), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:35 (eighteen years ago) link
Sounds good to me. Ava's never had much of a problem filling that nappy.
Sleeping with a baby is a bit controversial but I'm going with anything that makes the family happy.
It just seemed like the obvious solution when it was clear she wouldn't settle from day one in the cot; we were nervous about it but it seems almost as there's some invisible force preventing you from rolling over during the night. We only did it for a couple of weeks, then she graduated to the bassinet at her mum's side of the bed, then to the end of the bed, then to the bassinet inside the cot and, finally, after maybe 6-7 weeks, to the cot all on her ownio next door. We felt like we'd really accomplished something!
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Rebekkah (burntbrat), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:41 (eighteen years ago) link
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tcbeing4/detail?.dir=5759&.dnm=5a75.jpg&.src=ph
― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:45 (eighteen years ago) link
Can we talk about the childcare situation? My wife and I both work, but currently have the luxury of 'working from home' one day a week each, so oliver is at daycare the rest of the week. This will not last, as work is suffering for both of us. I like having him in daycare for social reasons, and he seems to love it, but I HATE that he (and us) are sick ALL THE TIME! What are your childcare solutions? Is the ultimate really to have one parent home all day with the kid(s), or is this a myth of a previous generation?
― mcd (mcd), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:48 (eighteen years ago) link
Rightclick on the photo and choose to Copy image location.In your post, type (without the space between the < and the img), then paste the photo link, then type (again, without the space).
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/41cb082fz7929dc0b/5759/__sr_/5a75.jpg?phQUk2DBAcf4T1jX
― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:49 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:50 (eighteen years ago) link
Kids get sick a lot no matter what. Yeah, daycare is a disease incubator but they are going to run across disease in kindergarten.
― don weiner (don weiner), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― don weiner (don weiner), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― don weiner (don weiner), Friday, 27 January 2006 15:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:06 (eighteen years ago) link
Got another one in the pipeline - due July.
― NickB (NickB), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:07 (eighteen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― Je4nn3 ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:12 (eighteen years ago) link
With my first son, we started at 18 months and tried hard for 45 days but he just couldn't do it...we tried this early because his brother was on the way and we thought it would be great to only buy one set of diapers. He ended up getting trained at 25 months. Our second son got it at 23 months. Up until the 1950s, 90% of kids were potty trained at two. The advent of disposable diapers changed everything because a) it's harder for kids to discern that they're wet, b) when they do get wet, the diaper doesn't get uncomfortable and c) parents are either lazy or don't get any help from their childcare provider.
RAH TEENY FOR BREASTFEEDING!
― don weiner (don weiner), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:20 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.gushertech.com/potm/images/photo5.jpg
― Rebekkah (burntbrat), Friday, 27 January 2006 16:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:00 (eighteen years ago) link
thanks don and congrats on your new one. I do really enjoy breastfeeding but it can be hard sometimes, totally no judgement on anyone who goes the formula route. But it is so urgent and key that you have lots of support and education--my trials have been pretty minor and I was still ready to throw in the towel plenty of times. I think we've got the hang of it now, and I hope I can breastfeed my little guy for a while. I'm not sure if my oversupply problems will resolve themselves or not, and I've read that kids will often self-wean early in this situation--they get tired of the fire hose when they start and can't effectively nurse for comfort when the boob is empty because it never really gets empty and they overfeed. Nursing for long stretches on just one side has helped a lot. But if I hadn't had the internet I would have never figured it out.
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:09 (eighteen years ago) link
I did for both with a diaper service and these wool covers called BioBottoms. We had a nanny at home (we lived in a trailer! I paid more for childcare than we did for housing.) until Jordan was 6 months old - at that point, they both went to daycare. Sarah was potty-trained, but Jordan had to go into disposables. More expensive, but definitely more convenient. When my brother was a baby (I was 9 or so), my mom used cloth diapers that we washed. It's a ton of work.
― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:11 (eighteen years ago) link
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/Untitled-9.jpg
random thoughts --
breastfeeding: this was a casualty, kind of, of Z's prematurity. my wife dutifully used a pump for the whole 3 months he was in the hospital, refrigerated and took the milk in for the nurses to feed him. but i think it was hard to really get things working at full capacity. physically and psychologically, i think you really need a baby there. (actually, the psychological part of it was really interesting. you think it's just some automatic thing, turn it on and it works, but it's way more complicated.) when he came home, he did breastfeed for a few months, but it was never enough to fully feed him and over time just tapered off. my wife was really sad when it ended.
sleeping: we've been co-sleepers, but we're working him toward the crib finally. he goes in there at least half the night. it's funny, we didn't start out intending to do have him in the bed, but it was so much easier initially, and once everybody gets used to it then it's kind of hard to just kick him out. (also, i have a friend who wrote a book on "attachment parenting" who's very pro-co-sleeping, so that helped reassure me.) we never worried about rolling over on him, because he came home from the hospital with a repiration and heart monitor that we had to hook him up to every night (preemies being at risk for apnea, etc), so we had an alarm that would go off if anything went wrong. we had that monitor for about 5 months, and by then he was big enough that it didn't seem like a concern.
of course, now he's even bigger and he's starting to take up serious bed space, plus the rolling and kicking, so it's definitely time for him to be in his own bed. it's kind of sad in a way, tho -- we're both used to him being there, it's so sweet to wake up in the middle of hte night and find him cuddled against you. i know there are people who freak out about babies in the bed, but it seems completely natural to me. it must be how babies were raised for thousands of years, before someone invented cribs.
xpost:my mom used cloth diapers on my little brother. he's 12 years younger than me, so my sister and i changed and washed a LOT of those things. tellingly, neither of us use them for our own kids...
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:17 (eighteen years ago) link
my wife suffered mightily from breastfeeding for a while but stuck with it like a trooper, eventually becoming quite good. as for runover: pump, save, freeze, thaw, give in bottle, all good.
― Haikunym (Haikunym), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:20 (eighteen years ago) link
God, lots of cute photos!
― NickB (NickB), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:25 (eighteen years ago) link
Formula is revolting stuff, isn't it? I can't wait for her to move onto cow's milk.
Disposables here - Pampers to begin with then the more eco-friendly ones from Sainsbury's (the name of which I'm blanking on despite having bought hundreds of the buggers). Not so eco-friendly is the fact that we have to drive to Lower Sydenham to buy them (with the rumoured coming of Waitrose to our neighbourhood, we may no longer have to do this).
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:29 (eighteen years ago) link
More pics at http://www.sterlingwolk.com .
He's still nursing up a storm, and is also very enthusiastic about basically every solid food we've given him. When we make something without dairy/soy/nuts, we grind some up in a food mill and give it to him; he likes to eat what we eat. Hasn't yet figured out the sippy cup. Very interested in walking, and pulls up on everything, but isn't up to cruising yet. Very VERY interested in talking, and has no words yet but a wide assortment of phonemes, which he often arrays into a lecture.
The one really big issue is sleep. He sleeps between us, and will not go to sleep until at least midnight, sometimes later--if we try to take him to bed before he's good & ready, it's Party Time!!!, and he freaks out completely if he finds himself awake and alone in his crib. (If he nurses to sleep and we put him in the crib, we have a window of maybe eight minutes tops before he opens his eyes for a second, realizes we aren't there, and screeches inconsolably. Self-soothing? Forget it.) Anecdotal suggestions are welcome.
Lisa & I both work at home, so at least one of us is with him all the time (although we are talking to some people who might watch him 5-10 hours a week). As you can imagine, this has decimated our productivity...
― Douglas (Douglas), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― Douglas (Douglas), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:49 (eighteen years ago) link
ah, the bedtime issue. we struggle with this too, although in our case it's mostly our (or my) fault -- i work evenings, mostly, so i don't go to bed until 2 or 3 myself, and Z's kind of gotten on my schedule. he'll stay up til 1 some nights, and the earliest we ever get him down is 11. of course, i don't want him to go to bed too early, because i prefer to sleep until 10 or so myself. it's a bit of a conundrum. but the key for us is nap management -- he needs a nap (occasionally two), but we need to try to get it done in midafternoon. if he gets to dinnertime w/out a nap, we're in trouble.
on moving him into the crib, what we do is let him fall asleep with one of us (usually my wife, since she goes to bed first), and then move him into the crib once he's completely conked out. he'll stay there for anywhere from an hour to (sometimes) all night. if he wakes up crying while i'm still up, i'll just rock him for a few minutes until he goes back to sleep and put him back in the crib. if he wakes up when both of us are already in bed, we just pull him into the bed for the rest of the night. at least he's getting used to the idea of being in the crib, even if he doesn't love it.
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Friday, 27 January 2006 17:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 27 January 2006 18:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 27 January 2006 18:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ms Misery (MissMiseryTX), Friday, 2 February 2007 21:55 (seventeen years ago) link
― schwantz (schwantz), Friday, 2 February 2007 22:02 (seventeen years ago) link
we just went through four days of misery; both baby and mom had the flu. quite scary though he never got a high fever, but he was verging on dehydration most of the time, and the liquidy nasty poos he sprayed all over himself, the crib, and everything else on a nearly hourly basis had to be seen and smelled to be believed. holy god.
― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 2 February 2007 22:06 (seventeen years ago) link
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/371545906_527531d1bd.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/165/371544950_b2a0ebe93e.jpg
― schwantz (schwantz), Friday, 2 February 2007 22:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Saturday, 3 February 2007 00:59 (seventeen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 3 February 2007 01:24 (seventeen years ago) link
A little drunk. Just had dinner with my boys and one most excellent girlfriend. Sent them home with all the leftovers( stuffed shells).
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 3 February 2007 01:59 (seventeen years ago) link
Oh, Nath, sorry to hear about your trip. Glad you got there safe.
― Maria :D (Maria D.), Saturday, 3 February 2007 04:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Maria :D (Maria D.), Saturday, 3 February 2007 04:03 (seventeen years ago) link
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/378158253_e11e0db032.jpg?v=0
Check us out yo! In Nakameguro, my parents' flat.
― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Saturday, 3 February 2007 17:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 3 February 2007 22:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 3 February 2007 23:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Sunday, 4 February 2007 06:42 (seventeen years ago) link
― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Monday, 5 February 2007 09:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― schwantz (schwantz), Monday, 5 February 2007 17:31 (seventeen years ago) link
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 17:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 17:52 (seventeen years ago) link
Sorry your travelling was so rough, nath. Are those your parents in the photo?
― Ms Misery (MissMiseryTX), Monday, 5 February 2007 17:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― luna (luna.c), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:07 (seventeen years ago) link
Kids getting ill is too scary.
― onimo (onimo), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:10 (seventeen years ago) link
Of course, Owen didn't seem to mind:http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/380761069_c6f6b43ffd.jpg
― schwantz (schwantz), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:16 (seventeen years ago) link
My older son had a strangulated small-bowel when he was 19. It was a couple of days of test and torture before they doctor figured out what was causing his terrible pain. I was climbing into the hospital bed and holding him while he cried, morphine notwithstanding. Finally a CAT scan revealed the problem and he had middle-of-the-night emergency surgery. The small bowel had turned blue, and would have perforated by morning. He now has a scar from above his navel down to his pubic bone. WORST TIME OF MY LIFE.
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― onimo (onimo), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― === temporary username === (Mark C), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:41 (seventeen years ago) link
If I had read the last few posts before I had kids, I might not have had kids.
― Sara R-C (Sara R-C), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:51 (seventeen years ago) link
― luna (luna.c), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:52 (seventeen years ago) link
I couldn't watch. My husband did. He said it was a slow drip, like a maple tree being tapped.
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:55 (seventeen years ago) link
I had one of those when I was six. I just remember being in this tiny, hot room with three nurses lying on top of me to keep me still. I was terrified. When they wheeled me back to my room the doctor told my mother I was "a very uncooperative child". :(
― Ms Misery (MissMiseryTX), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:59 (seventeen years ago) link
― Maria :D (Maria D.), Monday, 5 February 2007 19:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 5 February 2007 19:56 (seventeen years ago) link
― schwantz (schwantz), Monday, 5 February 2007 22:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 5 February 2007 22:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Monday, 5 February 2007 23:47 (seventeen years ago) link
― aimurchie (aimurchie), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 01:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― liz (lizg), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 11:30 (seventeen years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 16:20 (seventeen years ago) link