[BabySteps]

Oh my gosh Alana, that is the cutest thing I have ever seen!! Oh and I love the sound of your voice. Reed is doing so great. He is adorable!! Tyler loves the remote for the tv. Maybe I will put it in front of him on the floor and he may crawl for it!!

My boys are not crawling yet...should I be worried. You are a great Mom Alana!

[sarahelaine57]

Alana-I love the videos of Reed doing his version of crawling, I saw the one on your blog too! He is going to be all over the place soon, even more than he is now I bet! As for Elmo I have seen him at Walmart and Target. Have you checked Amazon? I love ordering things from them.

Shellie-I was worrying about Jackson too because I tend to try and compare him to other babies around his age, which I know I shouldn't do, but anyway I was reading an article the other day that said some babies skip crawling all together and just start pulling themselves to standing and start walking...so we shall see if Jackson is going to be one of those babies. But this morning he couldn't get his knees up, but then when he put his head down he could get his knees up, poor baby just hasn't been able to put them both together at the same time...

Well off to breakfast with some friends for some mommy time!

[designdiva32]

Shelley, Sarah's right, your boys are just fine. Reed is very quick in the crawling department and has been obsessed with it for about two months. But hes VERY slow in other areas. Take for instance sitting - he is terrible at it. He can't support himself at all. Even the ped said he wasn't doing very well and that we had to start teaching him to do it. Yet even thats not working - he just flops forward onto his belly so he can start crawling again! So I think every baby will learn each trick in their own time. You'll probably find Tyler and the boys will just stand up and cruise instead. I was an early walker, I think I walked before I sat or crawled too!

So Shelley, stay tuned for your three to get up to major mischief in the next few months. And yes, I would definately try putting the remotes on the floor to get them moving. Reed only started doing this when he saw the phone on the floor and before that it was the laptop. His toys he couldn't care less about! lol. Also, put the boys into a sitting position and let them get onto their hands and knees that way. That helped Reed quite a bit as I do believe the missing link between tummy-time and crawling is sitting, and since we've been showing Reed how to do this he's been moving alot more.

Sarah, Canada doesn't let us order items through Amazon other than books or DVD's. Don't ask me why, believe me I've tried. Theres some restriction there. So maybe I should order stuff and have it sent to you to send onto me here. Hey, thats not a bad idea at all!

DH just washed the dogs and they smell worse. Why does wet dog smell more stinky than dirty dog!!

[sarahelaine57]

I would send it along to you if you wanted to do that...darn Canada! That seems pretty silly to me...I wonder if the Disney site has anything, isn't that who makes Elmo? What about ebay, sometimes you can find brand new toys on there and you might even pay less for it than you would in the store.

Jackson can sit up with a little support, and when we let go he usually flops forward so I have been trying to do some sit up time every night and think I will be asking the baby sitter to do the same. It looks like it should be really uncomfortable for him, he is literally almost bent in half! And Alana I put the remote down in front of Jackson today and he scooted toward it pretty quickly, like father like son I guess...some day I am going to catch him sitting in the recliner with the remote in one hand and bottle in the other watching tv, lol.

Anyone know when to switch to 2nd stage foods? Jackson has almost tried all the foods on stage 1 and likes all of them except peas, we are going to try carrots this week and then pears. I am sure he will be happy with stage 1 for a while but want to start stocking up on stage 2 when they are on sale, but don't want to buy them too early...

[sarahelaine57]

Ok Alana fisher price actually makes elmo, and they do ship to Canada but you have to pay duties on each item or box or something like that, but here is the website
Welcome to Fisher-Price.com!

[BabySteps]

Alana and Sarah, thanks for your words of wisedom! I will try the sitting thing. Tyler does get around. It is almost like he slithers like a snake and rolls a few times. I am amazed how they act like boys at such a young age. Tyler even snores!

The boys have been a bit more, ok a lot more rowdy then usual. I had a bad day this week. Dave thinks today they are acted up on him...but they are just like that everyday now! He works during the week and by the time he comes home they either are having their last meal or are done, playing and winding down for bedtime. He is a great Dad and they love him but now the boys are starting to turn to me when they are cranky. Tyler likes to be rocked to sleep, Luke needs a soft voice because he gets sensitive to load noices and Connor well he has been a Mommy's boy from day one. Don't get me wrong I am flattered but sometimes I just need a break!! I am the only one who has ever bathed them or fed them cereal, veggies or fruit.

Do you think I am spoiling them? The doctor said that they do not learn what is right or wrong or manners until they are atleast one years old.

[emajoo]

Alana, I love Reed's video! I actually watched it with my husband and we were both laughing at how hard he was trying to reach that phone. It was just too cute I can't wait for my guy to do that. He's still trying to figure things out. He sticks his butt out really high but then forgets to move the arms. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon. You're right about sitting as being the connector. Selim is bad at it also. He just leans forward and starts playing with his toes
So ladies, I have a question for those of you with older babies. Since Selim had a visit to the NICU at birth, we are required to take him to a developmental clinic from time to time. The last time we were there, the nurse told us to absoutely not use jumperoos or exersaucers as these things take away from floor time and babies end up not crawling and having problems walking (for example, their center of balance moves foward and also they learn to stand on their toes rather than stepping with their foot on the floor, etc.) So she scared us really good and made us return the exersaucer we bought. What do you ladies think? Alana, does Reed have a play area above the floor? That apparently causes babies to think that fun things are up there not down on the floor and they lose interest in crawling and exploring which is very important to brain development. The reason I'm asking is only because I'm dying to get Selim a jumperoo. I had him sit in the new Precious Planet one at BabiesRUs today and he really liked it. Should I just ditch her advise and get him one and may be limit his tim in it to 20 minutes per day? I can't decide.
Another question for you ladies, if you don't mind. I started giving Selim rice cereal last week. He hated it. First he made funny faces but took a little. The next day it got worse. Today he started crying. I tried oatmeal today and he still hated it. He shows so much interest in our food and tries to grab it all the time. I believe he's ready but I don't know what to do to make him like it better. How did your LOs respond when you first offered them rice and oatmeal cereal? Did you make it really runny almost like milk? I'm mixing with breastmilk.

Thanks ladies for any wisdom you can provide. While my little guy has been a great sleeper since he was 8 weeks old, he recently started to wake up around 3am asking for more milk, even though he takes a huge feeding before bed (about 10oz). All the signs say he's ready for solids but I can't make him eat any. Should I go straight to veggies? The ped is not really giving me a clear direction.

Sorry to ramble like this. I'm really tired lately. I hope everyone is doing good and all the sick babies and mommies are feeling much better.

[sarahelaine57]

Ebru-first of all on the jumparoo, I was totally against them at first, then the in-laws got one for him at Christmas, and he loves it, and I was actually watching his feet today and he was standing flat on his feet and pushing, he does from time to time use his tip toes but not very often, and he is limited on the time he spends in there, at night during the week he plays in there for about 20 minutes while I make dinner or while we eat. On the weekend he might get two 20 minute sessions. His motor skills seem to be on target so I am not too worried about the jumparoo effecting this. I think when babies spend the majority of their time in them is when they have adverse effects on their motor skills. I just try and balance out the jumparoo time with double tummy/floor time. As for the cereal, Jackson was not a super big fan at first and then he had not pooped in a few days so I mixed prune juice into the oatmeal cereal and he loved it. I also made it super watery, just solid enough to stay on the spoon, and now he likes it a little thicker, almost like normal oatmeal. If he hasn't had a reaction to the oatmeal cereal try mixing in some fruit or veggies to see if he will like it. Or like you said just give him veggies or fruit. I know a lot of people say not to start fruit because they will get a taste for sweet things and not want less sweet veggies but that does not seem to be the case with Jackson, he loved his green beans! He actually ate almost a half of a container tonight....

[BabySteps]

My boys all have exersaucers and jumperoos! They love them. I don't think it is a bad thing. I am home all day with them and believe me they have many different things they want to do...tummy/floor time, exersaucer time, jumperoo time, sitting in bouncer seats watching Baby Einstien...stroller time, backyard time... I think as long as you give the baby a variety of play and discover options they will be fine. I also read that walkers are bad for babies and does not help them learn to walk...

I think the most important thing you can do for your baby is to spend enough time with them that you can tune in to their needs.

[designdiva32]

Ebru, definately get your LO an exersaucer and jumper. As you can tell from the video neither of these has stopped Reed in the crawling department - and he uses them both everyday. I just try to limit them both to a maximum of 30 minutes in each. Which is about all he can do before hes bored anyway. Personally I think the exersaucer is what taught him to stand so early as he doesn't sit in it anymore, he uses his legs. So it definately helped to strengthen them. I would say the nurses are being a bit overly cautious saying no to them. From my perspective they've really helped Reed learn to control his limbs!

As for the rice cereal, Reed still grimaces when I give it to him! It actually pretty funny. He won't eat solids everyday either. Like this morning he just plain refused, however yesterday he ate twice. So maybe just keep trying with Selim and like Sarah mentioned, add something tasty to it. I find Reed really loves bananas added to his. I think it sweetens it up. Oh, and I add breastmilk to Reed's rice cereal and I still keep it fairly runny. He prefers it more like a liquid than a solid.

Shelley, things are the same in our house! I do most of the bathing and feeding and Reed won't let anyone but me put him to bed. DH can't even hold him before bed or he screams until I come and get him! So you're not alone here at all. I agree with your doctor too, before a year its pretty pointless trying to teach them anything. A friend of mine who had a 19 month old said that after a year things do get easier as they learn to understand and communicate more. I don't think you are spoiling them either - I don't think you can before a year. I think at this age they just want mommy more than anyone and maybe they're all hitting the seperation anxiety stage? I think Reed has as he always looks for me now, even when hes with DH. But hey, soon enough daddy is all our boys will want so I'm making the most of him wanting me first! Although like you - I would LOVE a break!!

[emajoo]

Thanks for helping me understand the situation with the entertainers. I think we will get him one. He'll be so happy. Poor guy didn't want to get out of the one at BRU Thank you so much for giving me a peace of mind about this.

Which brand/kind do you have? I'm not sure that we have space for both a jumper and an exersaucer so we may have to pick one. What do you think we should get? Shellie, your boys probably have several kinds. Which one do they like better?

By the way Sarah you were totally right about trying again later. I tried again today and he ate quite a bit of rice cereal! Yay! I was so happy. I don't think he's ready for oatmeal yet but I will give him some fruits to see if he likes that. I don't believe it will stop him from eating vegetables but if it does, I can just stop the fruits, right?

Anyway, thanks for your advice ladies. Alana, I can't believe Reed can stand, what a trooper! He's so adorable So are all the August/September babies It must be something in the air around then.

I will post a picture once we get the exersaucer or the jumper. Thanks!

[sarahelaine57]

We have the Baby Einstein Jumparoo and Jackson really enjoys it, however he enjoys the things we hang from the hooks more than anything, but it is a nice feature because we can switch the toys out. And it also has lots of height adjustments. But I have heard a lot of people really like the fisher price jumper. I have contemplated getting an exersaucer for Jackson because he seems to like the barn one at BRU, but DH said we just don't have the room for it and it is pretty similar to the jumparoo. I guess if I had to pick one I would go with the jumparoo because in the exersaucer they can't jump like they can in the jumparoo.
Yay for Selim liking the rice cereal!!! We rotate trying something new by doing a fruit and then next time it is a veggie. He just tried peaches and likes them so we will be moving on to carrots. It's his last veggie to try and even though we started out with a fruit he eats pretty much whatever we put in his bowl...like father like son I guess!

Jackson's newest thing is spitting and Grandma was making kissy faces at him and when we got home today both DH and I were making kissing noises and he did it back, it was adorable! He hasn't done it again but I am sure he will, hope I have the camera rolling when he does! Oh and any one else notice their baby talking to themselves in the car?

[designdiva32]

Lol, Sarah you have to get a video of Jackson doing the kissing noises. How clever is he! And yes, Reed chats to himself all the time. Especially when hes in the exersaucer. I hear him talking to all the toys. Its very funny - but at first I was concerned he was upset about something. But he was just having a conversation with one of the plastic sheep! lol

Ebru, we have both an exersaucer and the Baby Einstein Jumper that Sarah has. Reed loves them both, but we also have a Jolly Jumper that hangs from a door frame that is actually Reed's all time favourite activity. Seriously, I'd invest in one of these also as they have so much fun leaping up and down. It takes up no room either as its tiny to store. That way you could get a small exersaucer as the jumperoos are quite large.

This is the jumper we have at home. It gives you an idea of how big it is! Amazon.com: Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper: Toys & Games

Here in Reed Land though we are struggling badly with the dreaded teething. Seriously - its a nightmare! His first one is almost through and finally looks like a tooth but the second one is just taking forever and he is fussy and grizzly and won't sleep for periods longer than 30 minutes. I've tried the teething tablets but they are useless. I feel like I'm overdosing my poor baby on ibuprofen at the moment! But without it he just won't sleep. Teethers are hopeless too - they just don't numb the pain enough for him. How many teeth do babies get?? Will this stage ever end??!!

[sarahelaine57]

Alana-have you tried the night time baby oragel? My aunt swears by it, and I recently bought some in case Jackson starts having pain...she said that it is stronger or lasts longer or something like that so it helps them get to sleep. Also have you tried a cold, wet or frozen washcloth? Jackson likes to chew on his bib so I tried this and at first he didn't like it but now he really loves it.

I second the jumper! I again was against them but gave in and Jackson loves it, plus it is pretty inexpensive and easily stored (something my DH loves about it). I got one with a toy bar on it and it entertains Jackson for a while.

[fossie]

I have the same jumper as Alana/Reed and both kids really enjoy it. Ditto what some of the others said that it sounds like the nurses are being over-cautious- and I haven't really had to limit their time in it because after 20 minutes or so they are bored and ready to move on anwyay.

I couldn't imagine not having help at bathtime - but I do all of the "solids" feeding by myself and it drives me crazy because my dh won't help because they just laugh and don't eat when he is feeding them but he sure has an opinion on what I am feeding them, and that it is too much or too often, etc. He was practically gloating yesterday when Tyler threw up his carrots. Ebru, I found that mine both liked it a little thicker than I was originally making it but it sounds like you got it worked out. We don't do straight rice anymore - it is always mixed with something, but they do like oatmeal plain or mixed. They HATE peas though and don't even like them mixed with carrots, sweet potatoes or rice/oatmeal. I guess I will revisit peas later.