General Babble

[lls_mutant]

ETA: Oh, and happy birthday to gwendolyngrace!!!!! Hope it's fantastic!

Long past few days!

In case anyone missed it, I posted Chapter 12 of AIL on Friday. Yay!

The little guy's been sick. It's our first big sick, and it hasn't even been that bad. I think it's a combo of cutting his first molar and a head cold, although we've had a little vomiting. I took him to the doctor on Monday because he'd been losing his balance more than normal and I was worried about ears (I had an uncountable number of ear infections as a child), but the doctor said ears were good, and the cold wasn't in his chest. He said a lot of it probably is teething, especailly because it's a molar we're cutting, but yeah, there's probably something else, too. So we've been cuddling a lot the past two days. But right now he's trying to pull the books off my shelf, so that's good :)

However, a couple of baby-related questions:

1.) He does have chapped lips- to the point where one was bleeding? Anyone had to deal with this before? I'm not sure what I could put on it to soothe them. (I think I'll just call the doctor later, but if anyone has an answer right off, I'd be very appreciative!)

2.) We've totally cut out the bottle. However, his liquid intake is WAY down. Like, usually under 8 ounces a day. Is this normal? (It's been about 3 weeks since his last bottle.) Is there any way I can get him to drink more liquid from his cup? I've even broken down and started giving him juice over milk, because I can get his milk into him with his oatmeal and his yogurt pretty easily. I water down his juice, and he likes it, but not much luck :P ::sigh::



I'm so excited though. My sis goes for her ultrasound today!!!! I'm sooooo hoping she has a girl! (I want to buy dresses!)

Lots of writing to do. I need to do a lot of stuff for MRFH, I'm a page into AIL 13, and I have one fic I'd really like to finish before Remix assignments go out. It seems like there are more non-R/S shippers this year, and although I have a lot of gen on my fic list, I'd like to have this one, too, although it's not gen. I also had an idea for a fic based on Whiskey Lullabye, but it would be very depressing. Plus, I have original stuff that I need to work on.

Hee. I gave my 10-year-old co-writer the link to limaayel's essays/fantasy rants. She seems to have read some of them and taken them to heart, judging by a few things she said yesterday. ("They should have to go through a city that's very different than the one they came from.") My only frustration with working with this girl is that we only have about an hour a week.

Okay. Off to get things accomplished.

Comments

[inksheddings.livejournal.com]

My oldest frequently has chapped lips, even cracked. Burt's Bees makes some pretty good stuff for lips -- and skin in general.

http://www.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10751&storeId=10101&productId=16459&langId=-1&categoryId=&showSubCategory=yes

It's a little "flavorful", which he doesn't like, but it works well. Neosporin also makes a lip ointment that does nicely.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I think you mean limyaael. No "N."

Is the cup you're trying a Sippy cup? Because that's sort of like a bottle.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

1. Petroleum jelly. (Sold as Vaseline here, but I don't know if it's the same brand in the US.)

2. I'd look at what comes out more than what goes in. Huh. You'll know if he's dehydrated because his pee will get dark and his stools will be harder. Try giving him high-water foods if you're worried (lots of oranges and cucumber slices) and make sure he always has fresh water available to sip. I never actually measured how much Ella was drinking so I can't comment on the amount.

Hope Toby's better soon. It's horrible when they're sick, even a little bit.

[merlinssister12.livejournal.com]

Regular medicated lip balm should work for his lips. He's probably licking them a lot if he has to breath through his mouth, because he's all stuffed up. He breaths through his mouth, his lips get dry, he licks his lips, they get chapped. Its a nasty little cycle.
Part of his liquid intake being down is probably related to being stuffed up too. Its hard to drink and swallow when you can't breath very well. If he likes watered down juice why not try to go all the way and give him water.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Randomly via friends/friends. I get very dry skin sometimes, and lips that chap and bleed, and would recommend ordinary olive oil – it works well, oddly enough does not get everywhere, and cannot possibly do any harm if ingested. It might make him smell of Italian cooking, though!

[mysid.livejournal.com]

The absolute best product I've found to heal severely chapped lips is Lansinoh ointment. It's a lanolin ointment marketed to breastfeeding mothers to heal chapped nipples. If you breastfed and have some around, give it a try. The taste is less than ideal, but not that bad either. Some young kids will wipe it off and some won't. You could always put in on his lips after he's asleep.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks muchly! I will check it out- I've heard it's good.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Oops. thanks :)

Yeah, it's a sippy cup. He's capable of drinking out of it... he just doesn't want to. I think it's one of two things: 1.) with the bottle he was forced to sit still long enough to drink, but when I try to cuddle him the same way with the sippy, he just doesn't bother, and 2.) he still remembers his bottles and wants them back. He's holding out for them. Stubborn little stinker!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

1.) I thought about vaseline. I'll have to check with that.

2.) That's actually why I'm worried. His stools are hard and his wet diapers are far less frequent. He's starting to have a hard time passing his bowel movements, and I know it's because he's not drinking enough. ::sigh:: I guess it's a blessing that he won't eat the solids much yet- more water in babyfood!

And thanks. It is- you just feel so bad for them!

[aome.livejournal.com]

Same brand here. And it's what I was going to suggest, too.

You could also just use ... chapstick. :D

Will he eat Jello or slurp popsicles yet? Those are other good ways to get fluids in, aside from fruit.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was thinking that- that he's stuffed up and having a hard time drinking.

I'll probably give water a try, but the reason I put the juice in right now is to give him the incentive to drink it. Even when I give him watered down juice, he rarely finishes an entire cup over the course of a day. If I could get him to drink more from the cup, I'd give him water much more often. But right now, I just want him to drink. Period. I mean, he's fully capable of doing it... he's just refusing to. Toddlers!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Ooooooooooh, thanks!!!! That's a great idea- I think that might be the one I try!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I have some. I was wondering if that was a good one! However, it is a year old... (the whole breastfeeding thing didn't work out that great :P ) Thanks!

watch out for couple things--

[tesseract-5.livejournal.com]

same deal, though I stay away from Vasoline (petrolium product) or lanolin (sheep wool oil) as people develop allergies to it. Dunno if exposure through oral contact would increase that likelihood.

ANyhow, the Burt's Bee's stuff is great-- all natural ingrediants and widely available (since the original woman sold it to a bigger distributer). I think they make stuff for babies especially, I know they have a motherhood line of yummy products.

With teething, my sis-in-law had great success with freezing chunks of broccoli or cauliflower and letting her kid suck on them to numb the mouth. *shrug*

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

I *still* use Vaseline on my lips every night at bedtime, to keep them from chapping overnight. (And sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night and need another application.)

But I also like Body Shop lip balms (right now I have a "spiced vanilla" that's very nice).

Can't help you on the sippy cup question, though. Have you tried beer? ;^D

[mysid.livejournal.com]

I've got a tube that's 10 years old, and it's still good. I use it when my lips get really chapped. I put it on once or twice, and--Voila!--my lips are healed.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

::guilty look:: I don't have any, and it's -bitter- out. I don't want to take him out today if I don't have to. So I was looking for something else that I have around the house :) Plus, I'm never sure what's safe for toddlers and what isn't :P

We'll have to give the Jello another go. He really hated it last time I gave it to him. Haven't tried popsicles- I haven't been that daring! Maybe I should.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Cool! I'll give it a try then if his lips still look bad later. Thanks!

Re: watch out for couple things--

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Cool- I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

heh. Broccoli pops! At this point, I'll try anything! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

And thanks for the info. Spiced vanilla sounds really nice for me, actually.

Beer. Heeh. It would depend if he took after his mother or his father. I hate it- dad loves it. :)

[marauderthesn.livejournal.com]

Wait, back up, I missed stuff. How did you get a 10-year-old co-writer?