May Older Toddlers

[lisas3575]

Here you go, lbd! :)

Our big news is that we took down Owen's crib on Thursday and he's sleeping in his boy-boy bed (can't quite say big boy, lol). I've been shocked at how easy the transition has been so far, knock on wood. He's going to bed without so much fuss-- we were putting him back to bed 8 or 10 times before he'd finally go to sleep, and several times he fell asleep on the floor and cried when he woke up down there in the middle of the night.

We continue our toddler struggles that I vented about in April-- he's really being a pill today. :rolleyes:

[LaraW]

Hey Lisa - thanks for getting us started.

Congrats on getting Owen moved to a new bed. That is timely, as we just went out today and bought a big boy bed for Colin. He climbed out of the crib on Tuesday morning, and we had intended to move him out soon anyway.

Hey, I was thinking about your post re: the battle of wills. Owen sounds a lot like Natale at that age (great, huh ;) ). Some things that we did were things like when she did the changing of her mind between what she wanted to wear, I'd just say "oh, you picked the red socks. You can wear the blue socks tomorrow". We held her to her choice, and the changing mind thing really did stop. After a while.

No socks was also an option and we had several incidents of walking through the garage to the car w/o shoes on. Things like that. Maybe Owen can choose to put his shoes on in the house or in the car or put his pajamas on in his room or the bathroom. Brush teeth before or after bath. I just remember those as some things that helped (still do help) with Natalie.

Colin is doing well. He definitely has his 2yo moments, but overall he is a pretty easy-going kid. He has figured out making big splashes in the swimming pool and the bathtub, and so I am sure our wading pool will be a lot of fun for him this summer. He didn't ever really get into in last year, so I'm looking forward to him enjoying it more this year.

We were in Iowa last weekend for my sister's wedding, and had 2 long days of travel for that. They both did OK, actually, but we joked about Colin being in 2yo heaven sitting in his carseat eating animal crackers and watching Bob the Builder. :)

I think that is about it for us for now. Happy May, everyone!

[Megan James]

Hello from yet another household of a strong willed 2 year old. Lately Rebecca is really into doing what she wants when she wants it. Things like changing her diaper and going to bed seem to only get done with threats of time out and no stories. That is working pretty well but it's getting really old quickly.

In other news we are planning to send Rebecca to a more preschool like daycare sometime soon. This has been the plan for a long time but now that she is 2 1/2 (pretty much the minimum age) I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do. The biggest problem is that most of the situation that I like for her won't be optimal for the new baby who is due in August. Either they are full for infants, don't do part time for infants (so I would end up paying full time rates for part time care), or I'm just not thrilled with their infant room. My mother in law butted her nose in last week and actually may have turned as on to a new potential situation. I'm trying to accept it gracefully and not be mad at her for calling all these people and then calling me and telling me "I've been busy arranging child care for your children". The ideal thing from a child care stand point would be to send Rebecca to this toddler/preschool program I really like 1/2 days and then send the new baby to the home where Rebecca goes now. But that's tough on me and DH b/c it's two drop offs and pick ups everyday. The other issue is I feel guilty leaving the place we are now even though Rebecca really has outgrown that type of care. So this week I'll visit the places my mother in law suggested and then I just need to decide.

And then there is potty training, or lack there of.....

[jphilg]

I can't even vent.....things are that rough. Ugh. Please get easier.

On a related note, though, I would love suggestions for age-appropriate movies for a 3 year old. So far, Cinderella is great, Nemo is too scary, and Sound of Music is pretty good. I really need down time myself during nap time, and Saski's "good napper" chapter is firmly shut. Getting up to start a new Diego on the TiVo every 22 minutes is getting old, so I'm looking for good movies. But so many of them have really scary themes! All suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

[valchemist]

Pooh's Heffalump Movie and Heffalump Halloween are hits here. We also love Little Einsteins and Backyardigans -- those aren't movies, but if you buy the dvd's (or get from library) you can play several episodes in a row without having to get up. also, if she likes Blues Clues, you could get Blue's Big Musical Movie (or something like that, not sure of the exact title). It is a longer movie and we like it a lot.

[LaraW]

How about Beauty and The Beast or Mary Poppins? There are some Barbie movies out there too, things like the Nutcracker and one called Mariposa. Those are the ones we have watched recently.

[RebeccaT]

Jen, Saski might like DVDs of any of her favorite shows. They are still only 22 minutes long, requiring only 22 minutes of attention to a single storyline, but you can select the "play all" feature and it will play all 2 or 3 episodes in a row. We like Blue's Clues DVDs, Dora, Kipper, Barney (ugh! I know! But it's right at Julia's level), Little Einsteins, and Elmo's World. We also love Dan Zanes' and Imagination Movers concert DVDs (Dan Zanes is MUCH better IMO, I love it, but she likes them both).

half.com has been great for getting kids' DVDs.

Right there with you all on the testing stage. Ugh. Julia is currently singing at the top of her lungs instead of napping. I've resorted to locking the door to her room if she tries to escape more than three times. Does that make me a horrible mother? :o She's also being really funny - she can be such a clown, and when it's fun, it's really really FUN! But when she is bad, she is horrid...

[lisas3575]

(((Jen))) I wish I could pop over and pick up your kids for the afternoon. :( Some movies are on the way to you, and you might find this review site helpful:
http://www.parentpreviews.com/about_us.shtml

[Couperine]

Jen-

Ethan's favorites are Toy Story 1 and 2, Babe, Finding Nemo, and Cars. He likes Lady and the Tramp at times too. I can't think of anything that scares him in Cars or Lady and the Tramp, and his granddaddy has shown him most of the scarier things from the Toy Story movies irl already. :rolleyes: Today was the first time he fixated on Nemo's mommy, but that's because we had to have our cat euthanized last week. Definitely has led to some odd moments like when one morning he woke up, came downstairs and said, "I think I'm going to die today."

As for us, we now have Ethan, who turned 3 about a week ago, and David, who will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. Ethan is adjusting well aside from dealing with the cat issues (came home from the hospital to find a super sick cat - in the land of odd coincidences, a week after Ethan was born, I had to do an emergency euthanization on the other cat). I am soooooooo tired, but I love my boys and I know the sleep issues will get better.

I'm more about managing time between the boys right now. I'm trying very hard to make a point to do one focused activity per hour with Ethan, and he's adjusting to being home with me and David instead of spending his days with two indulgent grandparents when I was on bedrest. Ethan keeps astounding us with his vocabulary and sentence structure - all the synonyms we use to talk around his favorite topics are becoming vocabulary words. He's working on spelling out small words too - things that hammer home the fact he is not a baby anymore. Of course, having a newborn does that too. :)

[jphilg]

Y'all rock.

Many thanks for the ideas. As usual, the darkest hour was just before dawn....I actually had a relatively pleasant day with the kids. I'm not holding my breath that we've turned a corner, but I'm appreciating it.

[magdon]

also check out the sesame street stuff. we got some old ones at garage sales or some such. Elmo Sings Kids Favorite Songs (about 45 minutes) and some movie (we call it the big bird movie but I don't think that's the official name). Its from the 80s so doesn't have Elmo & that crew. Lovely Ernie & bert in airplane scene, funny salad tossing, about 90 minutes. Love the backyardigans too. (my boys are 2 & 4 by the by).

[food girl]

Jen,
"The ugly dauchund" is a HUGE hit here. It's an old Disney movie I think. It's very cute, non-animated and not scary at all. We watch some Mary Popins, the Apple Dumplin gang and even some My Fair Lady. I have a weird aversion to animated movies, can you tell?

Seeing your photos of Zach walking made me realize how far behind my little Lucy is. I do pretty well not stressing over her develpment but occasionally I do get a wake up call that we still have some hurdles to cross. She's pushing toys and cruising but her walking is still some time away - and she's 17 months this week.

Lisa

[buffygirl]

Hi All,

We've had a crazy week. Greg (DH) got very sick on Monday night, passed out twice, had one "seizure" and ended up in the hospital for 3 days. The whole scene involved 911 and the whole bit.:eek: It was very scary. In the end, he had a viral infection (tons of coughing, dehydration) that magnified a heart problem he was already aware of. He is home now which I'm really thankful for, but it was a really scary week. Fortunately Rex slept through the ambulance (and the sheriff for that matter:rolleyes:). Greg is ok now, just resting and trying to feel normal again. We will follow up with an Electrophysiologist (special cardiologist) in 2 weeks and get a plan for moving forward. In the mean time, he's not allowed to drive so I'm toting everyone around. And I thought I was worn out last week...:p

All in all, it made me so thankful for my health. With so many people dealing with health issues I am grateful that this wasn't way more serious. And I'm so grateful for our families, neighbors, friends...people are amazing when the chips are down...

Kim

[lisas3575]

(((((((((((Kim and Greg)))))))))) That sounds *awful*. I'm glad that he's doing better, and hope you get some answers from the Dr. next week. Man, all these health things are really bumming me out. :( Hang in there everyone.

[gertdog]

Hi everyone,

It's been a crazy month at our house and I've been mostly off the boards for a few weeks while I catch up at work and home. I feel like I've finally caught my breath now! Nothing's wrong, just a lot of things happening at once, work overload, and some travel thrown into the mix.

So- Ryan moved into his big-boy bed this month and the transition has been remarkably smooth. We had a week or so of him appearing in our room at ridiculously early hours, so we've been putting up a pressure-mount gate after he's asleep and telling him to play if he wakes up early. Took a few days, but I think he gets it now.

Next up, toilet training! :p

We started swim lessons and are enjoying those- he likes the water and likes the kicking/splashing/bubble-blowing they do for this age group.

Yesterday in the car on the way home from daycare, Ryan informed me that he would like a pink carseat (he needs a new one as he's close to the weight limit on the one in my car). He wants one like his friend Emma's. Next he told me that he would like a brother. He even said please! Two kids in his class have new babies in the house, so I guess Ryan's decided he'd like one too. I explained that we'd have to wait and see what happens and that not everyone has brothers and sisters (we are TTC w/o luck so far; of course Ryan doesn't know this). He was quiet for a minute and then said "Can we get my brother tomorrow?" Great.

He's a generally happy kid, but boy is he stubborn (from everyone else's posts I gather that's not exactly unique!). He gives DH a much harder time than he gives me, and I try to let them work it out, but sometimes I get frustrated with DH because he finds it easier to give in than deal with the bad behavior.

Jen- late with my suggestions, but I like the Max and Ruby DVDs, and they have the "Play All" option. Also Sesame Street's 25th Anniversary Musical Celebration. Sending you lots of hugs and good thoughts.

Nancy, congratulations on David's arrival! Hope things continue to go well.

Kim- I'm so sorry to hear about Greg and hope the follow-up visit goes well. Hope you're holding up okay.

[food girl]

I wrote my previous post and Lucy started walking 4 days later! She's all over the place now. Amazing!

Anna is having fun chasing her and "helping" her.

I'm sure that many of you have heard about Stephen Curtis-Chapman's daughters death, I heard that she was backed over by her brother in an SUV. It reminded me of an article I heard on NPR on the pros and cons of cul de sacs. According to the article, cul-de-sac communities have some of the highest traffic-accident rates involving young children. The "grimly ironic" part is that many families seek out these neighborhoods for their supposed safety. They believe they prevent cars from speeding through their neighborhood. What they don't realize is that most young children are hit by cars in reverse, not speeding passersby. When I was working in a rehab hospital we saw many kids who had been hit by a family member backing out of a driveway. It seemed like it often involved a truck or SUV that is difficult to see behind.

Be careful out there!