Saturday, October 13, 2007

which way is up?







These are some pics of Naief in his first jellabeya, if that's how it's spelled. We also bought him a thobe and he wore it on the first day of Eid, and I must say, he looks adorable in it! :) If you want to catch his pic, go to Hashim's blog and it's there.

Can't hardly believe that Ramadan is over. It sure flew by... usually, in years past, it seemed to drag. I guess because I wasn't fasting.. or maybe because we have a baby now.

Naief is good, but has been changing a lot. He now puts his arm in the air as if he's going to wave, but hasn't figured out the waving bit yet. He'll look up at his arm, move his fingers and stare in amazement. He's also screaming now.... all places, all times. He screams from joy and screams a lot in anger. His favorite time to scream is at bed time. He enjoys those blood curdling screams that make him cough.... I'm hoping it's a phase and something all babies go thru, if not... I think we're in trouble. He's not much on routines... altho I'm sticking to my guns and keeping him on one, but most nights I have to make him go to sleep. Would you mothers say this is the way to go?

There are a few things that are worrisome to me and am hoping that you mommas out there can give me a few pointers. First, he absolutely hates to sit in his highchair and when I put him in it, he screams for a bit and then refuses to eat. Breakfast seems to be the easiest time, but forget lunch and dinner. Once he starts screaming at lunch, I can hardly get him to eat anything substantial and it worries me quite a bit. He'll settle down for a bit but once he's finished, he's finished and will scream 'maaaaaa' and insist on my taking him out of it.

He was acting like this in his car seat, but has settled down quite a bit, altho today we had the same problems. I'm letting him cry it out, both in his highchair and in the car seat, but is this normal?

He does the same thing in his stroller. It seems to be happening in any place where he's tied in. He seems to hate riding in his stroller and cries and cries until we take him out. I'm wondering if herein lies the issue. We're taking him out. If we don't, he won't stop screaming and crying, so I give in and take him out. So... he knows this and works it for all he can get.

The part about the highchair is that I don't think he's getting enough to eat. I read on the net that they'll eventually start eating, but when will this happen? When I stop putting him in the chair? I've tried feeding him in his walker, but I can't keep him still long enough to get anything in him and then he's going from place to place and is usually not interested in eating.

He's also still sleeping w/ us, which I love, but he keeps me awake almost all of the night. I'm dead tired most days, and I'm starting to think we should start trying to get him into his own bed. His crib won't fit out of the door of his room, so I'm thinking of a part-time solution for now, and then when he gets a little older, I'll move him into his crib.

The problem is that he moves a lot in the night. He's either rolling around, twitching, or kicking the covers off, and w/ all of this, it keeps me up. I'm a terribly light sleeper w/ the slightest thing waking me... so imagine how it is w/ a baby that doesn't sleep in one place!

So... when you mothers were feeding your baby solids, did you stick to just one item or feed a variety of food at each feeding time? I usually try to feed at least 3 different foods in the mornings, 2 or 3 things at lunch and then 2 at night. I have also started w/ snacks like pudding and such, but he's not too keen on it. He'll eat some and then snub the rest. He likes fruit, but I don't want to feed him only fruit. He's a bit stubborn when eating and insists on my feeding him quickly. He's been like this since he was newborn... it's almost as if he thinks he'll die if he doesn't get another mouthful of food as quickly as possible. And what happens is that he gets mad and then refuses to eat the rest because I didn't get it to him fast enough. This is when he starts his screaming stuff.... it first started during the first week of Ramadan at my in-laws.... as it was his first go at eating solids and he loved them... but now, because of all the fuss and such each night, he's now throwing fits and I'm at a total loss. Maybe now that Ramadan is finished and he's eating at our house again, he'll settle down... or at least I hope.

Eid Mubarak to all my Middle Eastern friends and happy day to all my other blogger friends out there. :)


I will add that he seems more like a little boy now than a baby. He likes to crawl away from us now while squealing, especially when we're acting like we're gonna get him... and it's too adorable. He's pulling up to a lot of things and baby talks like crazy. His hair is really thin and some are pressuring me to shave it - thinking that it'll grow back thicker, but I don't believe it'll do anything. My sister, Jahooni, had thin hair as a baby and now has the thickest hair I've ever seen, and we didn't shave her head. I've seen babies that are 10 mths old and they have no hair at all... I wonder what ppl think that means?!

11 comments:

Olivia said...

Eid Mubarak - I heard it in a shop today, so was reminded...

Sorry I am not a mother to give sage advice, but I have been there when babies discover their voices do different things. At 6 months Jada has discovered she can squeal; she was a very quiet baby, and it was the day before her christening, so she was pretty loud throughout the next day!
Then, I was also there when my cousin's two-year old learned how to shout his name, and that is all he did for a couple of days.

Mrs Dynamite aka Lorena +Wonder Women... said...

Hi Tania and thank you for your SMS eid gretting:) i was so happy when I recive it! ...Im so glad that your Boy is so cute, and so smart! hehehe he knows when he has to get nutty loooool
okay let me tell you what the nurses in Canada teach me the feeding of Sara...
when the baby is 6 months old is the time of start feeding with solids. why? because they can get alergies.. so be awear thats why they told us to feed the baby with only one vegy or fruit a day
(i.e) one day carrots and see how he react second daycarrots again , what i did was buy tha pastic tray for the ice and wased very well and make the mash of the carrots and potatoes,sukini,and so on...with out salt..so you will make your tray of each vegy and put the tray in a ziplock bag and let it in the frezzer and any time you want to feed him just take one or 2 cubes of the food , remeber his stomsh is very small and the most imposrtant food now for his brain delop is the milk ...first you start with vegy's and then with fruits...and see what reaccion he has in each vegetable or fruit ...when the beby finish with all this you can start mixe chiken with the carrots and frezze, or with beef and potatoes or green pees or mix fruits , and in the end you start giving him rise and so on ... also you will help him to diagest all the foods wich are new for him ... and you will find out what he likes to eat the most :)I hope this help you my friend

Peceli and Wendy's Blog said...

Gosh, too many questions, Mummy!
Okay, about sleeping in your bed - it's no good if you can't sleep, you've got to be fit in the daytime for all the tasks.
About various foods. Not too many kinds at once I think.
About high chairs and being tied in - well would you like to be tied into a wheel chair? I don't think so. Can he eat sitting on the floor and you sit on the mat too? Remember, he did like the cat's bowl at one time!
There's lots to learn for him, and for you. Keep up the good work. And a happy Eid. I remember eating a lovely sweet called sawai with my Muslim friends.
w.

Islander said...

well most of ur questions i can't realy answer, but i just want to say in response to one:
doooon't shave hiiis heaad!!
i had thin hair as a baby, and my mom shaved it off when i was one year old in the hopes of it coming back thicker but it didn't! so other than the trauma of being a bald one year old (pictur me walking around with a hat and putting every single hair accessory in sight on my bald head) i really gained nothing.. haha

eid mubarak to you too :)hope u guys enjoyed it

Anonymous said...

Um Naief

I showed the latest pics of Naief to my mother and she liked him too much.

She said that Naief is a sweet and adorable little boy and I totally agreed with her.

cheers

Anon

Me said...

naief is so precious! love the new pic...

seeing as I'm a newer mother than you are, i am not sure how valuable my opinion is, but, I do really recommend a book by child psychologist and development expert, Penelope Leach, titled, "Your baby and Child." She gives great advice on everything and anything for newborns all the way until 5 years old.

As for sleeping with you, i agree that if you arent getting any sleep then it is no good. You can try getting one of those little cribs, portable ones, and putting them next to your bed for a while and putting naief in a sleeping bag so he cant kick off covers (plus they are better than blankets as you can control overheating) and then, when he has gotten used to that, move him to his own crib. might work...

also, as for the feeding, based on some of the reading I have been doing what might help is picking him up from the chair or car seat or whatever when he cries, calm him and then put him back in, and when he cries pick him up again a few more times until ultimately he realizes he is going to have to sit there. that way you are addressing his needs while teaching him that this is just something that he has to do. The theory is that it should work...you could try it!?! Although I have to admit I havent reached that stage yet.

And as for routine, I think routines are great and have helped me tremendously! I started working on putting him on a routine immediately (although it is almost impossible when they are so young)so you start with some flexibility, but still have at least a bedtime routine, and once he hit three months we had no trouble putting him to bed at 7pm at all. we start with giving him naked time to stretch and kick without his diaper for 15 mins at 5:30pm, then start his bath at 5:45pm , then massage and dress him at 6pm, then start his feeding at 6:15pm, then read him a baby book, and by 7pm he is fast asleep. he now LOVES his routine and if we are even 15 mins late with it he gets pretty upset! lol.

hope this helps!

Me said...

btw, you can email me at reem_21@hotmail.com if you want more titles of books i've been reading...

Jahooni said...

I totally disagree about shaving his head. It doesn't and won't work. You have thin hair.. you're his mother, so they must deal with it.

You should try to make the areas that upset him fun. Maybe put a special new toy on his highchair and only let him have it while he sits in those certain areas... a different toy should be associated with each spot.

I have no problem with babies sleeping in the same bed. If that is what will comfort him after endless hours of crying or him getting up and down, then do it! If he isn't getting proper sound sleep then his growth will be delayed. Kate slept with us many times and still sneaks in my bed after Daddy leaves for work in the morning!

All babies develop at different levels... and all these are just stages. Pretty soon he'll be seven and you'll be like... what the &*^%, remember when...

Um Naief said...

reem, thanks for the tips on books... i really enjoy reading and have many already that i've been referring to, but nothing has given advice on the topics i wrote about. we went and looked for small cots to put him in for next to our bed. what and where do you get these sleeping bags?

we have a semi routine in place, now w/ ramadan outta the way, it'll be easier, i think. it was very difficult convincing my in-laws of his routine prior ... but now, i think it'll be easier all around, or at least i hope. i was doing the massage after baths, but now that he's older, he won't stay still for a massage. i also allow naked time, but the thing w/ that is that it created this freedom w/ him and he HATES putting on his diaper now. he also HATES to have clothes on. he cries so much, and wiggles and such, and it takes everything i have to hold him in one place so that i can put on his diaper! hopefully as he gets older, he will grow outta this.

and you're right about soothing him when he's crying. i'm all for this. my sister thinks i should let him cry it out but the dr. said i should comfort him... which is what i do. it worked w/ his car seat and if he gets upset, i still do it. i haven't tried it w/ the stroller or highchair, but i will and see if it can make things better. this morn. i fed him on my lap and he was perfectly content... and tomorrow we have a woman starting to work at our house and he doesn't like her, so i'm really hoping it doesn't mess w/ his schedule.

olivia, he's found his voice in a big way and uses it all the time. he loves to draw attention to himself by screaming/squealing. it's precious and he does get noticed! :)

lorena, well, i'm past just giving him one thing to eat. i did that when i firt started feeding him solids. now, i feed him all sorts of things. i think i'm feeding him the right foods, but right now he's pushing to see what he can get away w/ and what he can't... and this is where the problem lies. hopefully w/ time, he'll see that i'm momma and he has to listen to me! he's a stubborn little thing tho.. can only imagine what it'll be like later!

wendy, i took your advice and fed him on my lap today. it worked. and i agree w/ the sleeping schedule. i bought him some new pajamas and he's doing better. maybe he was cold or something, i'm not sure, because now he's not moving as much, and is only waking at around 4 in the morn. for a feeding. i hope it continues. i will buy a small cot for him tho and start getting him used to it, so we can eventually move him into his bed.

sunshine, i agree w/ you... i don't think cutting his hair off will help anything. and i can only imagine how it felt for you to be walking around w/out any hair. i'm really opposed to doing this... i'm hoping after some time they'll stop trying to make me.

jahooni, you have some good points here. i'll try the toys and see if it works. i almost bought him a toy for his stroller a while back but changed my mind. maybe it would work, but i'm not sure. he just knows he hates to ride in it, altho, last night we went for a walk at the corniche and he did pretty good. didn't cry to get out until the end.

anon, yeah, he's a cutie! i'm glad your mom thought so too.

Puppy said...

Very cute!!!

He has such a funny ears, i guess they are so soft. The thing i like about kids' ears, that they are very soft.

look at his smileee

Anonymous said...

I'd carry on doing what you are,your son is looking like a healthy young boy to me,his hair will need cutting soon then there will be no turning back,it will seem that it's growing as fast as you can cut it lol.