Hellobee Boards

@MrsStormy: Hyla has really started to be into straws from my cup. We've been letting her play with it, but so far she's not sure what to do with it besides chew on it (it's a hard plastic straw in a reusable cup).

@Grace: thank you that's exactly what I needed to know. Jack's definitely ready then as well. My DH is out of town this week so we'll probably start next week as well. We have his 4 month well check (we are behind he's gonna be 5 months) Friday and I have tons of questions but good will definitely be one of them.

@avivoca: Its so cute to see her direct a cup/ straw towards her mouth! I'm totally afraid of her poking her eye out though....

We started D on cereal and purees a couple weeks ago and he is doing great. It has helped so much with breastfeeding because he isn't starving all of the time now. D isn't sitting unassisted but he has no problem refusing food when he is full.

I've been so MIA Work is kicking my ass...I've taken 3 all-day trips out of town in the last two weeks and will have my fourth on Friday, which will also be an overnight trip (my first night away from him...on Valentines Day...and Saturday is his 5 month birthday). For those trips, I have to wake up at 3am to get ready, leave for the airport by 4am and don't get home until 9pm. FML. Other than that, things are going well, I love my little man soooo much it physically hurts sometimes!

Here's our update:

Weight: weight check today put him at 16lbs 12oz! At his 4 month well check he'd dropped from 40th to 20th percentile and now he's up to the 50th so I'm super happy

Height: 26.25" at his 4mo check up several weeks ago

Sleep: not too bad, so I'm not going to wish for better and jinx it! He goes down around 7;30/8 and will wake for the day around 8/8:30, usually with 2 wake ups in there. We've had a few random nights where he's gone 8 hours straight and then back to bed for another 4 hours and it is so exciting! Daytime sleep has gotten pretty good, too -- usually he'll take two 1.5 hour naps and a short 20-30 min catnap in the evening.

Eating: we struggled with EBF (hence dropping so many percentage points) once I went back to work in January and my supply rook a major hit. Now we supplement with formula and how many ounces he gets per day just depends on if I'm home (as little as 12oz) or away literally all day (as much as 25oz). He's suuuuuuper interested in our food and laughs at the way our faces look when we chew so I know he'll be excited to actually eat! We plan on starting when he's 6 months, but I'm not sure what the "plan" will be...cereal? Mashed avocado? Purees? Any thoughts or resources to help me decide would be much appreciated!

Likes: when we sing to him (I swear he tries to sing along), his toes (borderline obsession lol), watching the dogs play, tickles, reading books, sitting up and playing with his toys like a big boy, snuggling

Dislikes: being hungry or tired (0-60 meltdowns, oy), being put down when he's wanting to be cuddly, when he can't get a toy into his mouth

Latest milestone: sitting up with very little assistance! He just started being about to do it on Monday

Biggest challenge: when I really think about it, we don't have anything I'd consider a big challenge. I guess I would say sleeping through the night is a big goal of ours, and the breastfeeding struggles we had we tough but we are through that.

Most fun thing about your LO: his laughter and grin are so much fun! He often throws his head back and does this "silent" laugh and it's hilarious to us. I also absolutely love watching the wheels turn when he's observing the world, he's just so intent on what he;s looking at and it's so fun.

Describe your LO's Personality if it's starting to show?: Harrison is shaping up to be a very curious boy, he's very agreeable and easy going as long as he's not hungry or tired, and is just lately starting to show signs of stubbornness. I think we'll have a very sweet and thoughtful boy, who also has a stubborn/willful streak.

Mamas:
Back at work? Still on Mat leave? SAH? Back at work...bleh. I love my job, thank goodness, but being away from him for so long some days is incredibly difficult for me. Especially when I have to take plane trips away from him so often...it's actually starting to give me anxiety upon takeof and landing (which I never experienced before being a mom) and if I stop and think about how many miles away I am, I kind of freak out. A couple of weeks ago I returned home and was told that earlier in the day he'd had two "termors" while being fed, which turned out to be nothing to worry about (apparently common to happen in some babies as their little neurological systems develop) but it got me thinking about what the eff I'd do if I was in freaking Las Vegas for work and my sweet boy had any kind of emergency. Ugh I'm sweating right now just typing it out.

Any post-partum issues? Hmmm...not really. Hair loss, like you all lol. And I do still sometimes feel the hormonal-crazy-overwhelmed feelings but not usually for more than a few hours in the evening.

How are YOU doing? My biggest challenges are feeling like my apartment is a total mess all the time and I just can't seem to keep up with it, and also worried about my DH's happiness here in CA. I know he misses his family back in NJ so profoundly, and it makes me sad. He's such an amazing father and does so well as a primary caregiver (which I was so worried about, you may recall) and he's just not happy at work and hasn't made any friends out here.

Current LO picture: from today

@illumina: We are going to start food tonight actually! J is eating bigger bottles and finally going longer than 2 hours between feeds but bc of it I can't pump enough at work, I suppose I could add a session at home but ehh he can eat my stash or real food. My reasoning is and this is just what works for our family: he's had formula so he doesn't have a virgin gut and he's hitting all the developmental milestones that they say plus he wants food. We are starting with mashed avocado, steamed and mashed sweet potato and mashed banana. We are also doing some BLW concepts, like letting him chew on apples etc.

We have a dr appt tomorrow so I'm excited to see what his height and weight are and I have a ton of questions for our dr lol.

@mamagmagpie: He's so cute!

Ladies--I need nap advice! Has anyone transitioned to a 2 nap schedule yet? We have one or two days a week where she'll take 2 naps and the rest are 3 nap days. On the 3 nap days, like today, her last nap is starting at 5pm--so she'll have half an hour and then I get her up so our 7pm bedtime isn't pushed out too far. I'm thinking of trying to move towards the 2-3-3 schedule I've heard people on here talk about...as I only keep her up 2hrs between naps, but she doesn't seem too tired, so maybe I could push it a bit further?

@MamaMagpie: I think by the time they are 6mths they should be moving towards taking just 2 per day.

@illumina: Nope. Mine is firmly on 3 naps. Sometimes there's an accidental 2-nap day and it isn't too pretty. I can't get LO to nap after 4:30, so if something crazy is going on where the 3rd nap doesn't happen by 4:30, then it becomes 2-naps. Weissbluth says some kids have the third nap up until 9 months, so there's no rush. There's no harm in trying it with your LO. If it's a disaster, just add the 3rd nap back in.

@MamaMagpie: The fussiness that came with teething was unreal. I'm not looking forward to round two of teething. Paige is getting fussy the last couple of days, but the WonderWeeks app has a big stormy cloud over this week, so I'm hoping it doesn't last long.

@MamaMagpie: we've started solids, he's had sweet potato, avocado, and bananas. I debated cereal and decided against it. No teeth here yet, lots of chewing though. He's turned into such a happy baby, he is so different from the first 3 months!

@MamaMagpie: we've been doing oatmeal (she loves it!). She's not too sure about bananas or sweet potatoes but I'll keep trying!

@Grace: isn't she getting the iron from her milk? Our ped has Jack on a multi vitamin as well.

@Grace: darn. I wonder if we should be doing the same. I had low iron all pregnancy. Our ped has Jack on poly vi sol which is a multi vitamin with iron is she on anything like that? We're notoriously bad at giving it to him though bc he hates it

@Grace: haha right? Everything goes in but these are like torture and normally get spit right back out.

@jetsa: @char54: that's so exciting!!! H is definitely ready, I'm just waiting until his next appointment to go over it with his ped. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I'll just call and discuss it on the phone...his appointment isn't until next month and I can tell he's so ready!
@avivoca: tell me more about your thoughts on skipping cereal! I can't seem to figure out what we want to start with...
@Grace: so exciting! How did the chickpeas go over?! And so awesome about the rolling H is still in his Merlin's sleep suit and although he can roll from back to tummy normally, the suit doesn't let him do it. Is she sleeping extra well now that she can get into whatever position she wants?
@marionberry: sorry work has been stressful and that J's not sleeping well Love seeing you on IG too!

So we don't have H on any vitamins/drops...his ped has never mentioned it. Should he be? He gets about 70/30 formula/breastmilk.

@MamaMagpie: oh my goodness, I'm glad you're both ok! Idk in the drops we've had them since his 2 week appt and are nb ad about giving them but yea.

Is everyone still taking their prenatals? It's another thing I'm bad about taking

@MamaMagpie: So scary! Glad you guys are okay! We are also going to skip cereal. My pediatrician said there are some new studies out that indicate the cereals can cause obesity and diabetes later in life, he said he doesn't know how much value he places on those but it is not necessary, so not to risk it. I'm going to have to ask about iron.... We are going to start closer to 6 months with either smashed up avocado or sweet potato as well, as recommended by our ped. Also, where do you live? I live in Northern Ca too, but I'm pretty far north.

@Grace: We totally have rolling from back to front down, which was so fun at first, but she can't seem to master rolling from front to back and she hates being on her tummy so she is constantly rolling, then screaming because she wants to be on her back.

@MrsStormy: oh yah, I think I've heard about those studies but I haven't read any yet. I'll definitely check it out. My aunt was asking about why there would be an issue with starting on cereal and I didn't really have an answer for her! Time to do some research
@Grace: H loves being on his tummy, too! He can roll both ways but will go from back to tummy more often than tummy to back. And a mommy and me yoga class sounds like so much fun!