Teething and talking

Since he started talking more last saturday 18 at my Grandma's, so his Greatgranma, he hardly stopped, with great joy of me and his dad... It's mainly a lot of aahh, uuhh, oohh, quealings, little laughters and rarely he uses consonants such as guuhh, gahh... yesterday it was the first time of something undefined including a T. In all this he's been suffering at least once every other day for his first tooth coming out and complains quite often. He's also been overall an angel, he definately enjoys the TV (he only watches clever stuff and music!!) and he's getting better at holding himself sitting for a couple of seconds before trailing off to a side LOL. He enjoys tickle but tries to resist it as he gets the hiccups otherwise after a while. And he's not been hiccuping in the last few days which tells something i suppose. He's also been eating quite regularly apart from today when he must have been either hungrier or thirstier. I wish I had a videocamera to record all the time he chats, he's so amusing!

Meanwhile i've been busy starting arrangements for the wedding, gosh so many things to do! Today i started sewing the small sachets that will contain the chocolate-heart-shaped-sugar-covered sweeties for the guests. Previously I sewed a new portable changing mat for Robert and I completed it with his initials. Yesterday I finished the last drawer (finally!) of his chest of drawers and completed the first hand of stain on the shelf I decided to put in his bedroom. Busy busy week? Not really that is almost all I've been doing... Most of the time I sat at the computer navigating for stuff about the Wedding... my bottom is flattening!! LOL

First temperature

Thanks to our friends Ami and Leon we were able just a few minutes ago to check on our warm boy with a dummy thermometer and soon found out that he has his first temperature: 37.3. This afternoon we had been at the pediatrician for a check and she revealed what i suspected since a couple of days ago, he has a bit of a sore throath which lead to a bit of coughing and less chitty chatting, nothing to worry about as she said it will soon be gone and she confirmed that the teeth started their journey out of the gums. The weight was 6.700 kg and he is now 63 cm tall. He is a big boy, she said comparable to a 5 months old and is growing fine.

ABOUT ARTIFICIAL MILK - FORMULA

Did you know how bad artificial milk is?
99% of women can breastfeed and a good lot fails due to not believing that they can do it and giving up too easy!
Try harder! Don't use Formula!
Most leading health organizations today recommend breastfeeding for newborns through 12 months of age, and some through 24 months due to the infant's need for Omega 3, a nutrient that is ordinarily found in breast milk but not in formula, also mother's antibodies cannot be found in formula, stop buying formula it's bad for the babies' health and leads to many problems:
studies have found infants in developed countries who consume formula are at increased risk for:

• acute otitis media
• non-specific gastroenteritis
• severe lower respiratory tract infections
• atopic dermatitis
• asthma
• obesity
• type 1 and 2 diabetes
• sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• eczema
• necrotizing enterocolitis and
• autism (SOMEBODY SAID IT'S GENETIC BUT GAVE NO INFO ABOUT WHERE THIS INFORMATION WAS FOUND SO I STILL BELIEVE WHO WROTE THIS ARTICLE ON WIKIPEDIA AND I ADD THAT ACCORDING TO RECENT STUDIES MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CAN BE ADDED TO THIS LIST)
  

when compared to infants who are breastfed.

It has been discovered that iron supplementation in baby formula is linked to:

• lowered I.Q.
  
• other neurodevelopmental delays.

also some early studies have found an association between infant formula and lower cognitive development.
So you just need to have confidence, no mother can "lose" the milk or "not have enough". For starters do not believe when anybody says that to you.

1. Tell yourself that you, like millions of women, can do it
2. DRINK A LOT (water, milk, juices, no alcohol of course)
3. make sure your baby latches on properly
4. If you think your baby is not getting enough because of a low increase of weight compared with other babies check all the things that can cause this problem and help your milk production with the use of a BREAST PUMP, the electric ones are faster and more effective than the hand ones and save you the hassle of spending a lot of time and effort. (I use a hand one because I couldn't afford otherwise)
5. If your breasts get so full that they are sore or you get a lump under your armpit you should pump the milk out until either problem is solved and try hot water to help the ducts to open.
   
6. If you are stressed drink camomile and fennel as they help relax and increase the production as they are still liquids. Obviously try to rest, being stressed and nervous does not help.
   
7. Don't drink too much tea or coffee, it's bad mainly for the baby and for you too.
8. Use a wetnurse or pump and freeze your milk in case of absence.
9. Consult with your doctor in case the hormones for breastfeeding are lacking in order to have a prescription for these hormones.
10. DON'T GET STRESSED AS STRESS IS NUMBER ONE ENEMY OF MILK, I MYSELF EXPERIENCED 3 TIMES WHERE THE MILK WAS LATE TO COME BECAUSE OF STRESS AND MY POOR BOY WAS SCREAMING FOR HUNGER.
    
11. For any questions and advice please don't hesitate to email me.
    

There are very few real cases when a mother cannot breastfeed and most women don't know that, they just get in the spiral of convincing lies that push them to buy formula.
Here are those reasons:

Because of the mother's health:

• The mother is infected with HIVor tuberculosis
• She has had breast surgery. In this case the ducts will be blocked.
  
• She is taking any kind of drug or alcohol that could harm the baby.
• The mother is extremely ill or malnourished, in this case once she reaches a good state she could try with the help of a doctor

Other reasons why a baby cannot be breastfed:

• The baby is unable to breastfeed: birth defects and inborn metabolism errors such as galactosemia make breastfeeding difficult or impossible.

• Absence of the mother: adoption (although nowadays with hormones the new mother can still breastfeed), the baby is orphaned or in the sole custody of a man. The mother is separated from her child by being in prison or a mental hospital. The mother has abandoned the child. In most cases the use of a wet-nurse when possible would be better of course. The mother has left the child in the care of another person for an extended period of time, such as while traveling or working abroad.There is the possibility to pump and freeze the mother's milk that will then last up to 6 months in the freezer.

• Family pressures: Family members, such as mother's husband or boyfriend encourage use of infant formula without knowing how bad it is or just because they think it's easier.
  

• Lack of education: The mother believes that her breast milk is of low quality or in low supply, or that breastfeeding will decrease her energy, health, or attractiveness. The mother is not trained sufficiently to breastfeed without pain and to produce enough milk.

• Financial pressures: Maternity leave is unpaid, insufficient, or lacking. The mother's employment interferes with breastfeeding.

• Societal structure: Breastfeeding is difficult or forbidden at the mother's job, school, place of worship or while commuting. The mother feels infant formula is socially preferable.

• Personal beliefs: The mother feels that breasts are too sexual for a baby or feels uncomfortable breastfeeding around other people. Nursing by a relative or paid wet-nurse is socially unsupported, believed to be unhygienic, or too expensive. Also, the mother does not want to breastfeed or prefers to use both breast milk and infant formula.

• Dietary concerns: The contents of breastmilk are influenced by the dietary habits of the mother. If the mother consumes a food that contains an allergen breastfeeding may, for a brief period after consumption, provoke an allergic reaction in the infant.

Fount: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SO MANY THINGS...

Where to start... I've been very busy, so busy infact that I didn't have time to post anything for the last 2 weeks.

So here is a summary of what happened in this time:

I've been seeing friends, some of them at the Italian Pagan Pride where I went with my love Colin and Robert. In this occasion Robert used his pushchair and enjoyed it, it was cold so we dressed him up really nice and cosy with a lovely blue handmade jumper.

Robert with the blue jumper

One of the friends i've been seeing is Marina, my hospital room mate with her daughter Vittoria and for the occasion I made her a handmade, by me, present that will hopefully last until she is older: it consists of a blanket for the pram (with a ribbon that can be used as a dummy holder) that can later on become a sheet for the changing mat/doll sheet/table centerpiece. There is also a pillowcase in the same fabric that turns into a bag as there is a strap that can be put inside when used as a pillowcase.

The multiporpose sheet

The pillowcase-bag

I have also done other things since the sewing machine was finally out of its table one year after being repaired so I started sewing a few things. Because a textile shop gifted me a big bag of fabrics I was able, among them, to find a suitable pair to do Robert's Halloween costume: baby Yoda! I'm still working on that, although I had almost done the head part, because my lovely grandma's Singer 401 broke again (it cuts the thread when it goes down inside, any idea what it is?)so I had to switch to the other granma's Pfaff Gritzner 4220, not as beautiful or with as many fancy points but still very reliable and since I had also started a dressing pillow for Robert's high chair (made of wood)

Robert's first time on the high chair, still too small for it =)

which has a white base, I stuck with white and did as many things as I could and still am doing. My amazing son sleeps during the sewing sessions. So I sew a cover for his cot that is still waiting to be placed as we're keeping him in the Mose's basket for as long as he fits in; doing 2 sheets to use on the changing table and done some sewing on an interesting piece:

among the fabrics I was gifted there was an unfinished dress, missing a collar and various sewings, almost done now as you can see but needs still some dark sewing on the sleeves that I will do later on. Then it will be on sale, the size is unknown but looks like a European 44-46.

Make your offers ladies and gentlemens!

Obviously I had to leave something aside to do all this so the last drawer of Robert's chest of drawers is not yet done, also thank to my love Colin that did an awful job at staining a few centimitres left that I could not do as I had to run breasfeed my little Robert ... it will be redone and finished in a few days for sure. My next project after finishing the baby Yoda costume and the dress will be a black cat shaped bag for one of my best friend and then we'll see... I might restart the door of the spare house that i left aside or do the front door or the 2 ottomans... It's getting rainy and cold and I only have this month left to do all this before going back to work for real and Gods knows what it will be like with Robert... Until Colin doesn't work I can rely on him but I also hope he gets a job in order to have a better life...
Since 2 days ago we ran out of gas and don't have the money to buy another bottle so we've been cooking on the fire at night and had a sandwitch for lunch, the thing is not bothering me as the food comes out really good, but it takes more time than usual.

Meat, Mais and Minestrina (small starshaped pasta in stock cube broth)

Anyway I had to go trough my little possessions and decide to sell some silver and gold items I had left in order to get some money before my next payment. Among my items I found my old fake Granma's ring. She bought it through a post service because it looked so beautiful even if fake and I can now thank her as I'm using it as an engagement ring since the silver one my Love bought for me doesn't fit anymore and since, well, he couldn't afford a real diamond anyway so far...

My old fake Grandma's engagement-looking-like ring

Another amazing new event was Robert starting to complain about sore gums: not so soon I hope, we'll be seeing teeth.

Robert with his first ice lolly for teething