*Baby Corner*

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Zaid "brushes" his teeth but hardly does anytning but chew the brush. HE SCREAMS if i try and brush them for him. I even got him a thomas the train brush that sings. No luck. The doctor said as long as i keep an eye on his teeth and dont see any probs, not to take him to the dentist til hes 4.

[Autumnchik 6]

Depends on his mood if Declan likes brushing his teeth. Some nights, he screams. Other nights, he enjoys brushing his teeth, having me brush them, and then trying to brush my teeth. Not quite so much fun for me, since he ends up gagging me with the brush, but if it helps him brush his teeth, then I'll do it

So, one of the local restaurants had a Middle Eastern theme special this evening ... appetizers, a sampler meal and dessert. Declan loved everything! The waitress was great and suggested we just give him some of our food instead of ordering him something off the kiddy menu, which was a great idea. He tried everything and especially loved the tabbouli, kibbeh (sp?), baba ghanouj and stuffed grape leaves.

[Eveline 9]

@Autumn: That's what we do too. We get our food and either order a smaller portion for Adam or get an extra plate to give him some of our food. I never understood why they'd feed fried food to kids while adults can eat all the good stuff.

@All: Talk to me about iron supplements. I'm not too worried but Allie's lab results came back as slightly anemic which I think is due to her not nursing as much anymore and not eating a whole lot of meat, even though she does eat more meat than Adam did at that age. Our pedi recommened PolyVisol but I can't stand that stuff. The smell reminds me of the few days of morning sickness I had with Allie (cause I put that stuff into Adam's food) and still makes me nauseous. Is there anything else out there? Right now I'm giving her vitamin supplements (Babyplex) but that doesn't have any iron. My gut tells me to just feed her some beans every now and then instead of supplementing since her levels aren't terribly low. WWYD? (What would you do - that one was for CHNST only gg)

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Karen. We cook arabic food 3-4 times a week here and Zaids favorite is stuffed grapes leaves. I HATE Baba Ganoush so I have never given it to Zaid. Sounds like you had a great dinner. I wish I knew how to make Kebeh. It sure is Yummy

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Just got Zaid up and he has a friggin fever and sneezes, I swear I cant keep this kid healthy for more than 2 weeks at a time. It was 2 sundays ago we found he had h1n1. This is just ridiculous.

[Nizzy 1]

@Evi: I bought that polyvisol stuff for Eman too but I cannot stand the smell. He wouldn't take it either even when I tried to add a bit to his juice or milk. I just give him broccoli and spinach. He really loves to eat both of those. There are some chewable vitamins that have iron in them. I would suggest going to whole foods. They have a lot of options in terms of vitamins.

[Anna C. 4]

@ Evi: Jona was supposed to take fer in sol. I gave it to him for about a month and then we switched entirely to Yobaby with iron. His Hb went from 5 to 13! I cannot stand the preservatives in fer in sol. I bought Floradix too, but since Yobaby worked, no need for it. But I would go with Floradix instead of Fer in sol in a hearbeat.

Plastic... I do not like it if it is made in China, main reason. You never know what is in there. So often lead paint, phtalates, BPA. I do not want to risk it. I would buy plastic if it is made by Manhattan Toy, Haba, Plantoys - all the trusted names in non-hazardous toys. I never trusted China and recently that was affirmed: I bought a lead test kit and the two cheapo toys that someone gave us (Redbox brand) and I allowed him to play with had lead in it Yucky!

Hmm the wooden stuff we have isn't heavy at all? He has a Radio Flyer but I want him to get a ride on toy as well. He also has a wooden horsie that he likes from Latvia. I have to do more research...

[chnst 6]

@Autumn: That's what we do too. We get our food and either order a smaller portion for Adam or get an extra plate to give him some of our food. I never understood why they'd feed fried food to kids while adults can eat all the good stuff.

@All: Talk to me about iron supplements. I'm not too worried but Allie's lab results came back as slightly anemic which I think is due to her not nursing as much anymore and not eating a whole lot of meat, even though she does eat more meat than Adam did at that age. Our pedi recommened PolyVisol but I can't stand that stuff. The smell reminds me of the few days of morning sickness I had with Allie (cause I put that stuff into Adam's food) and still makes me nauseous. Is there anything else out there? Right now I'm giving her vitamin supplements (Babyplex) but that doesn't have any iron. My gut tells me to just feed her some beans every now and then instead of supplementing since her levels aren't terribly low. WWYD? (What would you do - that one was for CHNST only gg)

How low is her Hb (hemoglobin) and Hct? (Hematocrit)- see I know some abbreviations! Ha! If it isn't too terribly low, I would suggest a high iron diet. Anything dark leafy green (spinach, beans) or red meats, but you have to do that on a regular basis. Have you tried ground beef? Or "Gulash"? Ben loves that. I haven't seen the iron yogurt, but keep in mind that iron+dairy can slow the absorption of the iron. Give her orange juice when she eats foods containing iron or iron supplements, that enhances the absorption of iron because it is acidic (that was actually a question on my boards exam, hihi).

@Anna: wow Jonas Hb was 5?? Did he have any symptoms?

[chnst 6]

aww poor little Zaid. Hope he is getting better soon. Knock on wood, Ben hasn't been sick in months. There were only 2 children at the day care center this week, everyone else was sick with H1N1. Now that I just wrote this, I better get the thermometer out. I have a feeling I just jinxed him. lol

[Anna C. 4]

@ chnst: No he didn't have any symptoms. Both families have tendencies to anemia, I always was very low, my mom, my dad, Paul's mom, sister... So a lower Hb is to be expected. Ht was low, is now fine. The ped wasn't that alarmed at all, she said it is not unusually low for toddler/infants, especially since he was 3 weeks early. I wanted a 9 months baby check up but the base refused - I wanted his iron checked for the very reason of being early, which means he didn't build up a large enough iron store plus he didn't eat food at all at that point. They wouldn't listen and I hate for being right... It made a nice little complaint to the base though

Hm that wooden fire engine isn't that heavy, 13 pounds shipping weight, so prolly 12 pounds. Not that bad... I also like this though:

http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-Retro-Ro...pd_bxgy_t_img_b

I have to look up the company's website though to find out where it is built and what materials are used. I am very careful now after the experience with lead. Jona's lead is only 2, it can be up to 10, but I'd rather lower his lead exposure to nada in the house. I cannot control outside, but inside I can.

[JVKn'CVO 11]

For some laughs: Bad Mommy Moments - Photo Gallery

My MIL keeps asking about baby milestones that are way advanced for Sebas. She asked me at 1 week if he was smiling. She said he should be crawling at 3 months. She asked me yesterday if he was sitting up. WTH??

How low is her Hb (hemoglobin) and Hct? (Hematocrit)- see I know some abbreviations! Ha! If it isn't too terribly low, I would suggest a high iron diet. Anything dark leafy green (spinach, beans) or red meats, but you have to do that on a regular basis. Have you tried ground beef? Or "Gulash"? Ben loves that. I haven't seen the iron yogurt, but keep in mind that iron+dairy can slow the absorption of the iron. Give her orange juice when she eats foods containing iron or iron supplements, that enhances the absorption of iron because it is acidic (that was actually a question on my boards exam, hihi).

And Lentils! Seems like yesterday my grandma would make lentils every time I "looked paled"

Saludos,

Caro

[Anna C. 4]

Hmmm lentils, tasty! Wholefoods has red, green, French, yellow - all the good stuff

Caro: your MIL is seriously disturbed! What, so at 12 months he should graduate from High School?! Maybe you can give her a baby book that explains milestones? As a gift?

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Hmmm lentils, tasty! Wholefoods has red, green, French, yellow - all the good stuff

Caro: your MIL is seriously disturbed! What, so at 12 months he should graduate from High School?! Maybe you can give her a baby book that explains milestones? As a gift?

"what to expect the first year" for MIL for Christmas...perfect!!!

(Actually, i just emailed her this article from babycenter about milestones from 0-6 months, bragging about how Sebas is well within the advanced group )

Saludos,

Caro

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Good pics Caro! About the book, don't you think your MIL will be calling you all the time asking you if Sebas is doing this or that?

I was sick the whole sick, first my friend's baby got sick, then my friend, I was next and luckily Sofia never got it. She is getting another tooth and everytime it happens she has to spend a few nights waking up super late and playing until around 4.30am, you will think that she is in pain but not at all, at least she doesn't show it, I put her on the walker and she runs all over the place playing and "making music" with her toys. The jungle gym is going bye bye this week, she just uses it to stand up, I'm thinking about putting away the swing too, it takes alot of space and she takes very short naps in there.

My little hasmter is growing so fast, this Friday she said MA MA for the first time, hahhahaha.

Lentils, peas, beans, people in my country believe that eating them will bring good luck if you eat them in the beginning of the week, so it was a MUsT to eat them every Monday

[Eveline 9]

Well see, that is what's so confusing. Allie eats EVERYTHING. She eats ground beef, beans, spinach, beef stew, chicken, Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat etc. I made sure she ate more iron than adam cause he once was at an 8 and we somehow got his levels back up by just leaving out some of the milk. Allie however, doesn't like milk and she's still nursing too. I don't know what her leves were but the pedi said that it was just slightly so I'm thinking she's at 9 or 10 even. I haven't asked and our pedi will check again in two months. I just boiled some kidney beans for them to snack on this afternoon. I haven't even thought about yobaby. I'm definetely going to try that too.

Those 'bad mommy' photos are too cute. I definetely have several bad mommy moments each day, especially when it comes to being fully clothed. My kids are always naked . We still have temps near 80 degrees so we don't need clothes .

About led levels. I know you can buy those tests. We had Allie's blood checked for lead and it came back just fine. Have to ask the pedi what the levels were on that too.

Oops I forgot. All cranky sick babies GET BETTER VERY SOON.