May 2008 Crazy Young Toddlers

[Kerri]

I know we have all be slack on this thread lately, but I get so much out of it and I enjoy hearing about all your kids. I am assuming that everyone is being run as ragged as I am by their almost 2 year olds! I thought I would get us started this month. Here is James with post-nap hair. I think he looks like Brendan Walsh from 90210.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/wirrek/april2008/DSC02504.jpg

I am trying to think of some good things to share, all I can come up with are the frustrating bits. He knows exactly what he wants and is getting better at sharing it, unfortuately that includes only "dis, dis" for snacks (fish), "boooobbabba" or "dis,dis", or "ha da" meaning he only wants to listen tothe bob the builder song, wheels on the bus, or Hot Dog! in the car. Anything else is apparently too traumatic for his young ears. He has stopped playing with all his toys. They are evidently beneath him.

He does love to be outside, and that has been nice with the good weather. I think everyday we are at a different park, or the botantical garden, just running around.

We are having a big problem with meals. He was such a good little fruit and veggie eater...I am not sure what happened. My strategy has been to continue to put some variation of what we are eating on his plate, with one thing that I am pretty sure he will like. When he says he is done, and wants to get down, I don't baby him, I try not to say "are you sure you don't want some broccoli?", just let him get down and the meal is over. Unfortuately, we have run into problems when eating with other toddlers. I think he is excited to have a friend around and just wants to play, but I don't want him to distract the other kid. I don't know if it would be better to make him stay in the chair (which induces tantrums), continue to let him down when it is just us, or put him in time out. Just wondered what other people are doing. My husband is a slow eater, so to make him wait until we both are done seems a little much, but he probably should sit there for a little bit.

I did end up taking James to the doctor this morning. He just has had a lot of drool and a very yucky runny nose for about 4 weeks now. I really didn't think it was infected, but we do get complaints. They said he had allergies. I just wonder if after they get to a certain age they stop saying its teething and just use the allergy excuse instead. Oh well, we will try the Children's Clairitin and see what happens.

[TLee4]

Hi Kerri. Love the bed-head!
Re: the eating thing, I just let Joey out whenever he is done eating. Sometimes he eats a lot, and sometimes he eats NOTHING which is annoying... Suggesting and coaxing get me nowhere, so I just let him out. (For some reason, he says "bye bye" instead of all done). I've made up this little song called "Put your hands up" so that I can wash him up. He's really good about putting his hands up and kind of singing along.

Have to go back to work..more later.

Terri

[lbd]

We try to keep Ben at the table until everyone is done eating. When he says "all done", and yes, he will repeat it over and over at increasing volume, we acknowledge it but that everyone else is not done. It often helps to go around the table and ask him about individual people, as in "Is Daddy done eating?" "No." "Is Grandpa done eating?" "No." Usually helps if someone is holding up a fork or bite or whatever as we get to them. If he starts causing havoc beyond his tray (ie, food is going off it rather than just around), we'll ask if he wants his plate put on the table instead. Usually it just stays there until we finish but he has asked for it back ("try again") after a bit.

We eat meals 1-3 times a week with my niece who's 4 1/2 and not a good eater at all. His eating is often worse when she's around for the same reason you say -- he's excited to have someone there to play with. It's also hard because they let her get down as soon as she's done and she's supposed to go in the other room but usually comes back repeatedly asking for various things including whether Ben can come play. What kills me is when she asks him directly "Ben, are you all done?" because there's no way he's going to say no. Even if we keep him at the table once she's down, sometimes he'll keep eating and sometimes not. I did put my foot down about sitting next to each other because she touches and pokes at him constantly and nobody eats anything. I think she's starting to give up on that idea since I've been so firm about it.

His eating still varies widely with what he's having and how tired he is come mealtime. Like Terri says, sometimes he's eats a ton and sometimes basically nothing. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that tortellini is a T&T for us. Well, now he's so fired up for them that he'll eat frozen ones while waiting for the water to heat. I let him have one figuring he'd nibble and give it back but oh no, he just wolfed it down. Yesterday I lost count of how many he had while we were waiting. How bad would it be if I just gave him all tortellini all the time? Maybe I'll look for some meatfilled ones and see if he'll eat those...

[maryellenmd]

Thanks for getting us started, Kerri. I like the title of the thread. So appropriate for us in this household. LOL. And I love the bedhead photo and Brandon Walsh analogy.

Well, I never thought I'd say this, but Christian has become a very picky eater. He could still eat all day, but only what he wants. Bananas used to be his favorite, and now he completely rejects them. It does crack me up when we give him something new to try, and he will accept it, hesitantly bite into it, and then calmly hand it back to us! Oh, my! What gives? I've been trying to keep him at the table with us until we finish, but the past few nights I've let him out of the high chair when he was ready to run.

Let's see ... the boy loves to be outside so we've been spending a lot of time running around our court. He gets such joy from discovering new things. My friend gave us a tricycle, and he's really liked that. Hasn't quite figured out pedalling, but likes being on it. He absolutely hates having to come in, and will kick and scream when playtime is over. That part is not fun.

We've got our speech evaluation tomorrow morning. Feeling nervous about that, but hopeful at the same time, if that makes sense.

Hope you are all doing well. Can you all believe that they are all going to be TWO very very soon? Wow!!

[Bawstinn]

Hello!!!!!!

No, I cannot believe that they are all going to be turning two soon!

Mary Ellen - Glad to hear that Christian likes riding on a tricycle. That was what I wanted to get Madeleine for her birthday. I see where you can buy the ones with the push bar on them, so I can push her around the neighborhood.

We have had a few nice days in between all the rain. She still likes to ride in the stroller, so we take walks around the neighbor. She loves to look at the horses that someone has at the end of our street.

We have the opposite problem, it seems, as everyone else. Madeleine is a slow eater. She is the first one to sit down and she will just sit there until she decides she is done. She may only eat one bite every couple of minutes, but she will eat and have a conversation with you in between each bite.

I wouldn't say that she has gotten picky but she most definitely knows what she wants to eat. One Saturday morning I toasted a slice of cinnamon bread and gave it to her with a little cream cheese. No, Ria. No toast. Waffle. (although I am mommy sometimes - yeah! she still calls me Ria once in a while :rolleyes:)

Her vocabulary has exploded over the last few weeks and she seems to have grown so much. I put her in capris this morning and she just looks so tall and slim.

Here is one of her latest pictures. I figure this will be a good one to have around during her teenage years. For some reason, I still can't resize them in photobucket.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l223/Bawstinn/DSC01767.jpg

I *think* I will be able to unpack all of our kitchen stuff this weekend. I have been essentially without a whole kitchen since the first week of Feb. They cut the hole for the sink in our granite wrong and they did not drill a hole for a drinking faucet. Took they 3 weeks to come and take it out. I will be so happy to be able to cook real meals again!

[lbd]

Great picture of Madeleine! I wish Ben had even half that much hair so I could do funny stuff with it. We're still not even close to haircut time.

How did the speech eval go, MaryEllen?

Just over three weeks until Ben's 2nd birthday! He's learned the happy birthday song and is very close to being able to put up two fingers. He usually either has one alone or three including the thumb. After a bit, he puts them all up and says "five!" So we're all set for three years for now but will keep working on this year.

We went shopping last weekend and got his presents. For a variety of reasons, we decided to do only 3 gifts from us, all stuff we'd eventually get him anyway -- tricycle, adjustable basketball hoop, and (squishy) baseball bat with balls. He rode home with the trike on the seat next to him and was ultra excited about riding it. We told him it was for his birthday and is a secret until then; they're all hidden in the garage for now. He didn't mention any of them until lunch today when he started talking about the tricycle and basketball hoop; I reminded him it was a secret until his birthday and he started talking about finding them after his birthday. We'll see how many times it comes up between now and then. I'm relieved to have it done. Decorations and cake, then I can focus on getting through a long weekend with my in-laws. Anyone else have plans figured out?

[TLee4]

Hi again. Maria, I hear you on the "tall and slim" thing. I can see in Joey no sign of the once roly-poly baby!

Lorien, enjoy this no haircut time. It seems like I'm always having to get Joey's cut. It is as straight as can be and grows like crazy. (I have to hand him Skittles or something like that one at a time in order to keep him happy for the haircut. I justify it by working on colors with the candy!)

Like you all have said, the favorite activity for us is going outside. We have to pass a park every time we drive into our subdivision, and Joey always starts yelling to go there. When he finds out that we aren't stopping, he says "Bye park..bye!" :)

I'm not making as big a deal out of the b-day this year (in terms of a party I mean). We'll just do a small thing with each side of the family when we see them. I am going to make him an Elmo cake. I keep telling him "When it's your birthday we'll have cake and presents and balloons. And how old will you be on your birthday?" And he'll yell "TWO"! I have gotten him a couple of little toys (an Elmo bath toy, etc). And I got him this stool (for teeth brushing, etc) although I'm not sure if I can hold out 3 more weeks to give it to him.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5770&cmSource=Search

[SooCookie]

Hi everyone!

I can't believe our "babies" will be 2 either!!! :eek: We are having a party that will be smaller than last year's, but still about 30 people. I really need to figure out how to tone it down next year. We went with a My Friends Tigger and Pooh theme, and just hoping I can find some things in the store to go along with it. I plan on making her cake, but we will see how it goes.

Kayla wants to be outside all the time, too. Our neighbors have a trampoline, and she just recently figured out how to use it, so whenever we go out, it is always over to the neighbor's. I am sure they will want some compensation soon!;) She also loves playing with our landscaping rocks, and leftover dried leaves from the fall.

I hear you guys on the picky eating, but Kayla always has been so nothing new there. It is hard since DH works so late, he is never home for dinner with us. But when he is, he can get her to eat things of his plate that she would never touch for me. I don't get it.

Have a great Mother's Day everyone. Hope your DH (or DH=) treats you extra special. I got permission to buy a Baby Hawk carrier for the new baby that I have had my eye on forever. :cool:

Michelle

[Bawstinn]

Why is it on the weekend I wake up at 5:30 and can't get back to sleep?

The remaining piece of our kitchen was delivered yesterday so as soon as teh dishwasher and sink are hooked back up I am ready to start washing stuff and putting stuff away. Everything will need to be wiped down but I am sure my 'holper' will be ready to go.

We need to paint our entry way and have been trying to find the right shade of yellow (which doesn't exist, by the way). Everytime I paint a new sample on the wall 'oooo pretty'. Cute. Not so cute that she has been rearranging the tape with all the names on them, but since we aren't choosing any of them I guess it doesn't matter.

Birthday ... we are having a party, same people as last year. My dad has finally gotten permission to travel (pacemaker and such) and he will be here for her birthday - he has never seen her. Dave's parents are also planning on coming (yahoo) and his sister has been calling so I am suspecting she will show up. I've told him he needs to inform all of them that they need to behave else they can leave - I am not taking anymore of the drama.

Back to the party ... an Elmo cake will be made at our house too. She just loves him. I am figuring a cook out again, so pasta salad, potato salad, etc. I am not sure what to do for a main course though. Last year Dave smoked a brisket which really came out and went over well. I wanted something other than burgers and dogs since I tend to over cook and don't want to eat burgers and dgos all week ;). I was thinking or marinating some chicken legs (easy) but am not sure what else to make.

So cute, she is now awake and babbling to herself in there. I love to listen to her conversations with herself (or Elmo). Have the time she is just in there laughing to herself. Really makes me wonder what goes through that little mind.

I'll wrap up my novel with a question. Toddler beds. Has anyone moved or considered moving their child? I only ask because our friend who has a DD 6 weeks younger than Madeleine has already moved her to a toddler bed and was surprised Madeleine is still in a crib :confused: . She doesn't try to climb out, she still fits in there, why would I move her? I actually like the idea of keeping her contained since we sleep on the second floor and I don't need someone wandering the halls at night.

I better go refill my coffee before I need to report for mommy duty. :D

Edited to add : Mother's Day. I have been hinting since EASTER that a new place in town would be a good place to go for brunch for Mother's Day and they take reservations. I really don't want anything - we have spent a ton on the kitchen - and I LOVE it. A meal someone else cooks that isn't fast food, that's all. I mentioned something yesterday and the reply I got was 'oh, I didn't know you wanted to go anywhere'. Sigh.

[TLee4]

Maria, I am up before 5:30 too, but the kids follow close behind.

Re: the bed, I'm going to keep him in the crib as long as possible. I remember reading somewhere that you could move them between 2-3 years old, but the closer to 3, the better. As long as he's not climbing out, I'm all for containment!

Glad you will finally have a kitchen again!

Terri

[maryellenmd]

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!! :) Maria, I hope you get your brunch. We've got company coming into town for the weekend - a high school friend and her 7 year old son. Should be fun - we plan to go to the Smithsonian and to see a Nationals game on Sunday. Didn't exactly think I'd be spending Mother's Day at a baseball game, but it should be a nice time. It's a brand new ballpark, and MMG is beyond excited to see his Florida Marlins play the Nationals and bring Christian to his first baseball game.

The speech evaluation didn't go very well - Christian was really uncooperative so they couldn't actually do the whole thing. In the end they decided to go with the initial eval that was done, which we are comfortable with, and he's going to be starting some speech therapy sessions in the next week. I like the teacher who will be working with us so I am hopeful.

You can count me in the 5:30 am wake up club. I have this internal alarm clock, no matter what day it is, and guess who is not far behind me.

Thanks for sharing your birthday ideas. I've been debating what to do for his. At first I was thinking the Little Gym, but boy is it expensive. I think I am going to go the same route as you all - invite a few friends, daycare, and my parents for cake, etc. at the house. Nothing as big as last year. I want to make an Elmo cake too so I think that will be our theme! I'll have to look to see how to make it - I've never really done cake decorating so this will be an adventure.

Happy Mother's Day!

[Kerri]

Hello all!

Maria - I may have said this before, but I would love to see pictures of your kitchen when finished. I know this has been a big ordeal for you. And I can't believe Dave (it is Dave, right?)! I hope he ends up doing something extra nice for you. Oh, and we are keeping James in his crib as long as possible. We might start on a big boy bed in a few months when we go visit his grandparents, but I am definately waiting until he is at least two. Or starts climbing out.

James really won't be 2 until September, but we will probably do something low key...family, friends. I am trying to decide if I want to have it the same time as baby#2 baptism. I just don't know if I will be ready to deal with everything at once then. Keep me posted on how the Elmo cakes turn out. There might be one in our future.

Thanks for all the feedback regarding dinner. We might try to feed James by himself, then put him down, and the we will eat dinner. It just might be easier to do that when baby#2 gets here anyways. Apparently, DH was really getting a ulcer, so it seems like a good thing to try for now. Of course, that means I have to cook 2 dinners, but whatever.

MaryEllen - I am sorry the speech evaluation didn't go well. I have to wonder if that is in our future. I really think it would be if we had another check up between 18 months and 2 years. Most of his little friends are a little older, so it is hard to tell if he is really behind or not. I still think he his right on track, just not ahead like everyone else seems to be. It is cute because I can tell the difference between babbling and words he thinks that I should know. Sometimes, it takes me a few minutes to figure it out.

[Bawstinn]

Just wanted to pop on and wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day. Mine will be spent putting my kitchen together - yeah finally! Problem is I have no idea where to start - I have stuff in boxes and bags everywhere. Kerri I'll post some pictures when it is back in order. :) I am very happy with the way it turned out, despite the long, drawn out process it turned out to be. Only thing lef tis to pick out the backsplash.

No brunch. "Well, if you really want to go.". Sigh, so not the point.

[amcleod]

Hey everyone! Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! Michael did not sleep at all the night before so finally at 5:30 am I brought him downstairs and put the TV so I could sorta snooze on the couch. Then at about 6:30 he climbed up with me and fell asleep...and we remained there until almost 2pm. It was awful. We did go out to dinner at a nice place so that was good. Gary surprised me with a framed professional photo of the two of them. He got it done while I was away on a business trip. awww. maria, did you go out for brunch??

Michael transitioned to the 2 year old room at daycare dispite the fact that he's not 2 yet. His teachers said, "He's ready, there is nothing more we can teach him!" but really I think it is b/c they needed to make room so a 1 year old could move up and get a new infant in there. In the end it is okay, he likes his new room and can say one of his teacher's names! He never said the old teacher's names so I guess it is true love! ha ha. This teacher believes he is ready for potty training but I am not so sure. I have tried to put him on the potty and boy does he get mad. We'll see.

other than that, lots of new words everyday but not many sentences. Mary Ellen, keep us informed on Christian's speech therapy. In no time you will be asking him to keep quiet :)

I have no plans yet for the b-day party. In one way I feel like this will be the last time we don't have to do a party so maybe we won't (besides having family over, I mean). We'll see. Especially b/c our house is in varying states of non-renovation. By that I mean Gary has halfway finished fixing the basement, started fixing up the backyard...nothing gets completed. Not that I am doing anything to help, but someone has to watch Michael while the work gets done!

[lbd]

Our "party" will be the three of us, both sets of grandparents, and my brother/DSIL/niece. I got a mini helium tank with balloons at BJ's today -- will save a bit of money but will also avoid having to go get them that day and I think Ben will get a kick out of blowing them up. I can't believe it's next Saturday already.

We will keep Ben in his crib until at least sometime in the fall. Baby #2 is due early October and will be in a bassinet in our room until around New Year's (based on what we did with Ben). So we have until then to get him transitioned. We'll probably skip a toddler bed and go straight to a regular single, or possibly bunk beds. I just can't justify the expense of a bed that we'll outgrow quickly. (I'm making assumptions here, I haven't actually priced anything yet.)

We had a happy and quiet Mother's day. DH made waffles with fresh berries and sausage (as last year, might become a tradition) and we grilled for dinner. At one point I wished we had just gone out since all the non-cooks kept asking me how to do stuff but overall it was great and I didn't have to do any of the actual work.

Take care everyone.

[SooCookie]

Maria - Yay on the kitchen finally being done! I can't wait to see pictures either. Regarding the bed, we are keeping Kayla in her crib as long as possible. I truly don't think she is ready for a bed yet, even though one of her friends in playgroup was in one at 18 months! :confused: She still sleeps with her bumper pads in (bad mommy, I know) and sleeps up against them. I am afraid to mess with what little sleep she does get!

maryellen - Sorry the eval didn't go very well, but at least you are not too proud to admit that he might need help and if there are issues, getting to them so early will hopefully resolve anything. I am sure he is just fine!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Michelle

[Bawstinn]

Michelle - I am a bad mom too ;) I always had the bumper pads in her crib.

I guess I brought up toddler bed since Madeleine's crib actually converts to a toddler bed and then a full sized bed. I have the rails and the matress supports around here somewhere. I am happy to see so many others don't want their little ones to have too much freedom either!

We went to see Elmo Makes Music on Wednesday and she loved it. She was dancing and clapping her hands - she didn't want to sit down. She was soooo excited to see Elmo she wanted to follow him when he came dancing by us. Grover did come over and shake her hand and she was OK with that. Funny, she was OK with a big blue monster shaking her hand but she wasn't all that sure about sitting on Santa's lap (an obvious human) at Christmas!

Ann - part of me wishes that they would move her now, but with the way the center works, there probably won't be room until August when the big shift takes place when the preschoolers leave to go to K. There is one little boy older than her, one 3 weeks younger and then the rest are months younger. The just had a huge move from the infant room and many of them don't walk yet. Really changed the dynamics of the room.

I also have a back seat driver on my hands. When I start to brake she holds up her hand - Ria, stop NOW. ;)

[lbd]

I guess I brought up toddler bed since Madeleine's crib actually converts to a toddler bed and then a full sized bed. I have the rails and the matress supports around here somewhere. I am happy to see so many others don't want their little ones to have too much freedom either!


How does the toddler bed convert to a full sized? Even assuming you mean a twin, aren't the mattresses different sizes?

We had a heck of a day here today. During his pre-nap diaper change Ben was kicking his legs like crazy and wouldn't let me know put his pants back on. I figured it was warm so what the heck, if he wants to sleep without pants, what do I care. Well he went down easily then spent about 20-30 minutes talking quietly to himself and his "friends", then starting calling for Daddy. After about 50 minutes total since putting him down, my mom went in to offer him a drink and discovered that not only had he removed his diaper but he'd pooped! :eek::eek::eek: It was everywhere, including over all his animals and dolls, and down his legs and feet. :eek: She started trying to clean the crib stuff while I took him into the bathroom to clean him up -- and discovered that he'd also peed way at the end of the crib, somehow managing to get past the edge of the waterproof pad to the mattress below. Oof. Everything but the mattress went through the washer on hot and Ultra Clean, even the surface washables. The last load of animals is in the dryer now and they all seem to have come through the ordeal without damage.

Moral of the story: wear pants!!! or maybe something else, I'm tired and not thinking too straight. Hope everyone else had a more relaxing Saturday.

[Bawstinn]

Lorien - if you scroll to the bottom of the page they show you how it converts. The length of the crib is the same as the width of a full sized bed. I bought the rails at the same time (just in case it was discontinued) and I'll just have to get a mattress and boxspring when she is ready for the full sized bed. This looks pretty similar to the one we have (we didn't get it from here) but I don't think it has the smaller sides for the toddler bed.

http://www.convertiblecribs.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=YP1086&settab=2

I have 6 hanging baskets between the front and back and 'we' managed to get 4 of them put together along with a planter. I was asking her to help me by getting the flowers ... and she picked them up by the flowers. Whoops. We then had a lesson on how to carry them with 2 hands. She also loved taking the dirt out of the baskets when I turned around. It took a while to get them done.

She loves being outside but we have to keep her engaged every minute or she'll take off. We live on a dead end street and have a big hill to climb to go up to the street but I don't like that she doesn't listen at all. She will also take off after the dog when Sophie starts running and is intent on exploring the woods. Sigh, at what age do they start listening??

HORRIBLE night of sleep last night. She woke up at 12 crying and crying and crying. She stayed with us but kept sitting up, then wanted to play. Finally at 3 she went back to her crib and slept until 8. Not sure what her deal was but it seemslike this has been happening once a month for the last couple of months.

Another question ... how long do your kids stay up after you put them to bed? Madeleine will sometimes babble in there for an hour and a half before getting quiet. I am not sure if maybe she needs a later bedtime. She goes down at 7:30 and gets up at 6:30, but I guess with the babbling she gets about 9.5 a night. Lets put it this way, I am hoping she doesn't need a later bedtime since mommy like have 2.5 hours or so to herself to get some stuff done. :D

[Kerri]

Lorien - I am not sure if it is funny yet, but it is a funny story. Actually, the same thing happened to my sister so I have already heard the "make sure they always wear pants" speech! If it makes you feel better, I guess DH took too long to get James this morning (I get Sunday mornings off) and James had a dirty diaper and apparently started playing with it. So, even if you have pants on, you aren't safe. The real kicker, and I might be extra annoyed with DH because I am 8 and a half months pregnant, is after DH told me the story, I said to him, "so, are those the pjs he slept in last night?" DH replied "oh yes, it really wasn't as bad as I am making it out to be." I go to get James out of his crib after his morning quiet time, and brown stains on his sheets, blanket, and pillow. Well, I guess mommy will change your clothes and wash your laundry!! Ugh!!

Maria - We have a problem with running into the street as well. I have deemed it a Spankable Offense, but we also live on a quiet dead end street, so I am not as consistant as I probably should be. I don't think they ever start listening. It sounds like Madeline either is just having one of those nights, or maybe she will develop some sort of illness today. Or maybe 2 year molars. James is usually down for the count within 5 minutes of putting him down for the night. The only times he babbles on a bit longer is if he has had a late nap. What time does she nap at day care? I wouldn't think she (or you!) needs a later bedtime, maybe just a longer bedtime routine?

We took James to the zoo today. We just have a little zoo here, but it is enough for us right now. James didn't even care about the lions, elephants, giraffes, etc. He kept saying "mooo....turtas?" (more turtles) We went through the reptile house 3 times! He is all boy.

Mary Ellen has really got me thinking about the speech thing. James does have a lot of words, but they all sound the same, and lately he doesn't seem to be interested in trying new words. For instance, he can say "blue" but when he talks about "blues clues" he says "dada". He can say "elmo" now though. ;)

[TLee4]

Lorien,
We had the Poo-tastrophe one time too (when Joey was much younger). I learned the lesson too. Pants at all times!!

Kerri, I took Joey to a petting zoo this weekend. All the way there (20 min) he was repeating "Joey see animals? Joey animal park?!" It was cute for about 10 minutes. :rolleyes:

[lbd]

I'm not sure if the Poo-Tastrophe (thanks for the word!) is funny quite yet but it's okay. It would have been tons worse if I'd been here by myself but my mom ended up doing a LOT of the (pardon the pun) dirty work. Everything came out of the washer and dryer looking clean and shiny -- even the stuff that wasn't supposed to be machine washable.

Maria - we don't have much trouble with Ben going to sleep at night but several times over the last 2 weeks he has babbled for a half hour or more, and if he goes for a full hour I've been getting him up. Some days he will go down with little to no noise (like today, not a peep) but some days there's just nothing for it.

Hope the flowers survived Madeleine's help. We've been doing a lot of yard and garden work lately and he keeps coming in covered with dirt. He's surprisingly helpful with some stuff though, like picking rocks out of the tilled soil or picking up clippings to put in a garbage bag.

In other news, we're making an offer on a house tomorrow! We are very excited and hope it works out.

[NewMrsG]

Hi all!

It's been a really hectic month with the end of the academic year and graduation, so it's the first time I've had a chance to check in (or go to bed before midnight, let me add).

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

It's always so interesting (and reassuring!) to know how similar our experiences of Macy are with those of other parents. She's also become much more picky with eating and much more temperamental. She's definitely a kid who knows what she wants and isn't shy about expressing her preferences. Loudly. Repeatedly. We have a similar dinner table issue with her where she'll pick and then "all done", taking off her bib and trying to undo the strap on her booster seat. We handle it pretty much like Lorien. DH and I will also ask one another about the day and it takes the focus off of her, which also tends to calm her down.

My biggest challenge with Macy is that it takes her FOREVER to do something. To walk down the stairs to our first floor (which should take all of 30 seconds, going slowly), will take her 5 minutes so that she can stop on every step, pick up a piece of cat hair, examine her elbow .... She does the same thing with meals and getting dressed, and everything else. And I'm not very good at managing my frustration with her.

Macy is an outdoors girl. She LOVES the park and just being outside in general. We're lucky to live on a cul de sac with lots of young families and a very safe neighborhood. There is a little girl at the end of the street who is 7 months older than Macy and they are just nuts about each other. They call each other their "best friend" and constantly ask for the other. It's very cute. We've begun to spend evenings with them after daycare and before dinner, which means we're eating a bit later than we had been, but with summer she can sleep a bit later and it's been really fun for both of the kids. And if I'm being honest, it's also really nice for me because I like the little girl's mom a lot as well.

We are also still in a crib (we meaning Macy, although there are days I'd be perfectly happy there myself :o ). She's made no attempts to climb out and like Maria I'm also happy to keep her in there awhile.

Macy's birthday is just shy of a month away. Unbelievable. We ordered a nice sandbox for her which I think she'll really like. We started an add-a-pearl necklace last year for her so will buy a second pearl as well. We're having some sort of party but haven't decided exactly what. My mom is flying in (which is costing a small fortune), DH's parents and sister/brother in law/nephew may or may not come. Then we'll probably also invite the 3 families we're closest with - and of course her best friend from down the street.

I'm out of town for business next week - to Phoenix, where it was apparently 109 degrees today - ick, so 4 days away from Macy, which is making me sad. But we're then heading out to visit Jessica and her family for a couple of days, which we're really excited about. Macy and Adam have only met while they were both in utero, which probably doesn't really count. And we'll get to meet baby David as well.

Maria - I have to tell you that I was thinking about you - Macy has these bath toys - they're like cut-out dolls that stick to the walls of the tub. She named them all Jori - and it made me think of Madeleine calling you by your name. I commented to my husband tonight during her bath that I wondered whether I should be flattered by the fact that she named her doll after me or scared - and although I wasn't asking her directly, she said scared.

Now that I've written a month's worth of information, can I ask a question? Macy is now in the Toddler 1 class at her daycare - and is doing great. There's another little girl there who was born 4 days after Macy - they started in the infant room on the very same day and transitioned into the Toddler 1 room a week apart. We had been told that kids are transitioned into Toddler 2 on or close to their second birthday and are there until about 2 years, 9 months. When I got to daycare at the end of the day today Macy was a bit out of sorts. I was chatting with one of the teachers, who told me that they transitioned this other little girl to the Toddler 2 class today. So I asked if there was a plan to transition Macy (with the chaos of the last couple of months it honestly just wasn't on my radar). So the Director of the center came out to talk to me and said that she planned to transition Macy in September. :confused: I expressed confusion because she'll be well past age 2 at that point and she acknowledged that they'd transitioned the other little girl. I asked if there was a basis for the difference in schedules and she was very cagey - very vague responses about how it all depends on scheduling and availability. She denied that Macy was or wasn't doing anything she should/shouldn't be doing and was doing great. The two toddler classes are together a couple of times per day and she does great with the older kids during those times as well. She said that she'd be happy to entertain transitioning Macy earlier than September, which I asked her to do, and thought that she could arrange for July. I'm honestly just confused as to why there's such a drastically different timetable for the two girls - not in a competitive sense, but in not understanding what they're doing. And I went into the discussion genuinely just trying to understand but had a very weird feeling from our conversation - nothing I could put my finger on, but as if there was something they weren't saying.

Thoughts?

I honestly think Macy is doing great and can't imagine that this would have anything to do with her not managing the tasks she needs to manage at this stage - based on everything her teachers tell me and I always make a point of asking (neither Macy or this other little girl is potty trained, although Macy has used the potty now and is sometimes telling us when she needs to go). DH also had a weird feeling about it, but thinks I should just let it go. And of course he's right, but I am who I am. ;)

And now I really am going to click submit :o

[lbd]

I commented to my husband tonight during her bath that I wondered whether I should be flattered by the fact that she named her doll after me or scared - and although I wasn't asking her directly, she said scared.

Hee-hee! We're pretty much past the point where anything can be said within earshot without Ben chiming in with his answers, comments, etc. Things I "do you have the car keys?" to DH, Ben "I do not", or "we need milk" and Ben "that is a good idea". We spell anything we don't want him to hear but the feedback on all the other stuff is amazing.

[TLee4]

Do you remember when you couldn't wait for them to say "Mommy"? This morning at 4:40am when Joey is yelling "mommy, mommy, mommy" and I'm pretending that I am deaf before 5am, I'm thinking "Who taught that kid to say that?!" :D

(And then to add insult to injury, the first thing he says when I give up and walk into his room is "Daddy?")
:rolleyes:

Terri

[gertdog]

Now that I've written a month's worth of information, can I ask a question? Macy is now in the Toddler 1 class at her daycare - and is doing great. There's another little girl there who was born 4 days after Macy - they started in the infant room on the very same day and transitioned into the Toddler 1 room a week apart. We had been told that kids are transitioned into Toddler 2 on or close to their second birthday and are there until about 2 years, 9 months. When I got to daycare at the end of the day today Macy was a bit out of sorts. I was chatting with one of the teachers, who told me that they transitioned this other little girl to the Toddler 2 class today. So I asked if there was a plan to transition Macy (with the chaos of the last couple of months it honestly just wasn't on my radar). So the Director of the center came out to talk to me and said that she planned to transition Macy in September. :confused: I expressed confusion because she'll be well past age 2 at that point and she acknowledged that they'd transitioned the other little girl.

Thoughts?




Delurking for Jori- Ryan, at 2 1/2, is still in the Toddler I class at his daycare, along with 2 other children born within a few weeks of him, despite the fact that the "typical" transition age is in fact 2. I'm fine with this, as he's with other kids his own age, is happy, and the teachers keep the kids engaged and challenged. But they transitioned one little girl who is a day younger than Ryan to Toddler II a month ago. Ryan really misses her- they were together from 8 months old and get along well. It turned out that the mother of this girl was convinced that her daughter needed more cognitive stimulation and pretty much demanded the transition, even though the daycare's policy is that they transition the kids in groups. So it could be something like that. Or the director could be being cagey b/c they made a somewhat arbitrary decision based primarily on space needs rather than relative "readiness" of any of the kids and doesn't want to say that outright. If you're happy with the experience Macy's having in her current classroom and there are other kids who are close in age/stage, I wouldn't worry too much about it. But if Macy's the oldest in her class by a longshot I'd be asking the director to transition her sooner.

[DanaSD]

delurking about transitioning. I would bet it has more to do with opening spaces in toddler 1 or their parents pushing for her to be moved up. Either way, I could see them not being straight forward with you.

[SooCookie]

Oh no, Lorien! Sorry about the Poo-tastrophe! But I must admit that the story is pretty funny from someone who didn't have to clean up the mess!;) How did the house hunting go? Did they accept your offer?

Maria - I think I posted last month that Kayla is going through the same thing with regards to sleep (or lack of it!) She just will not go down easily anymore for naps or bedtime. I have kept her bedtime the same (btwn 7:30 and 8pm) for the same reason as you. I NEED my time. I don't go in to get her, just let her work it all out on her own for as long as it takes. She loves jumping in her crib, so half the time, that is what she is doing in there. I really should look into getting this child a trampoline!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Michelle

[Bawstinn]

Ahhhh ... a long weekend. I took Tuesday off from work to go to Des Moines to go shopping with a couple of old co-workers.

Trying to get the house in shape for the birthday party and our company in 2 weeks. Got all the kitchen stuff out of the office and, despite my helper, am making a bit of progress.

The new trick lately is to empty out my dresser drawers. I asked her to get mommy a pair of socks this morning (to get her out of the closet) and she emptied out the entire drawer to find one pair of socks. The other day she took all of David's socks out of his drawer and just dumped them on the floor. Sigh.

Jori - I am happy to report that I am now mommy more often than not. :D Not entirely sure how that happened but she has pretty much ditched Ria. Yeah!

Made an appointment for her to get her haircut and her 2 year pictures. I was looking at her 18 month ones on my desk yesterday and she seems to have changed so much since then.

That's about it from here. I am loving the age. She was talking on the phone to my mom this morning but wouldn't give it up so I went on the other line. She was listening to us talk and then chime in with her own thoughts every once in a while.

[honeygirl1971]

Hi everyone--
I haven't posted yet this month (and it's almost over, yikes!) since things have been super hectic here, but I wanted to jump into the conversation before it was too late!

Eating--Lucas, my vegetable fanatic, has gotten a lot pickier too. I was prepared for it, since I read in a bunch of different places that this is part of being a toddler, but it still surprised me since he loved veggies so much and now I have a much harder time getting him to eat them if they're not "hidden" in a sauce, inside pasta (like tortellini or ravioli), etc. But what's even stranger is the way he changes from day to day what he'll eat. Green beans used to be his absolute favorite, and he really wasn't big on meat at all, but he refuses green beans now and on Mother's Day we had dinner at my parents' house and he willingly ate chunks of roast lamb and asparagus! And he likes salad! I let him get up from the table when he's done. He gets wild in the high chair otherwise.

Cribs--Lucas is still in his crib and I'm keeping him there as long as possible! Everything I've read says there's no reason to move them unless they can climb out, and I definitely don't want him wandering around at night if he wakes up!

Birthdays--Lucas won't be 2 until August, but I think since we'll have a new baby soon and Lucas will get "big brother gifts" then, we're going to keep it simple. He doesn't really understand about birthdays yet, so we'll probably do a small family-only party. I do plan to get him a trike for his birthday, though.

My favorite thing he does these days: singing! He's really good at singing melodies he's heard often on Little Einsteins (his favorite tv show) or some of his music-playing toys. They're all instrumental, but his little voice singing "da da da dum, da da da dum" for Beethoven's 5th is sooooo cute!

My least favorite thing he does: running off. It's never in a dangerous situation, but being 36+ weeks pregnant, I get really tired chasing after him at the park, at his gymnastics class, etc. He also runs away in the house when I tell him we're going to change his diaper (or do something he is not interested in), but at least at home he can't go too far...

Kerri, Terri, and those of you expecting another or who had a second while your first was a young toddler, what did you do to prepare your first for the arrival of his/her sibling? I've stayed home with Lucas since his birth and so he's used to getting a LOT of attention from me and I'm worried about how he's going to react to having some of that attention go to his little brother. Most of the people I've talked to about this had an older child that was able to understand/discuss the idea long before the sibling arrived....

[lbd]

I'm anxious to hear advice on prepping the older child for a new baby as well. So far, we've been mentioning the baby not constantly but fairly frequently and Ben will talk about things he wants to do with her (ie, teach her play-doh, take her fishing, etc). I plan to enroll him in a siblings class as we get closer, but would love other ideas of what to do.

My specific question for moms who had a second child while the first was in the crib is -- how do you manage lifting in and out with the belly? We were planning to keep Ben in the crib as long as possible (he hasn't tried to climb out but seems comfortable still and may start getting up if the option was there). BUT ... the side of the crib does not lower and I'm starting to have a little difficulty laying him down in it. Not bad right now but it's only going to get worse. I don't want to move him to a toddler bed at the same time as our move (tentatively mid-July) because it would be too much change at once, so am considering removing the crib sides in the next week or so. This isn't what I had in mind all along but can only ignore the baby-belly for so long. Any thoughts?

And to follow up on that move (thanks for asking Soocookie!) - our offer was accepted (after some back and forth) and we have close date scheduled for July 10th. We still have to do the inspection and hopefully there won't be any major problems because this place is worlds better than anything else we've seen. Most places we either like the lot and hate the house or vice versa or it's a good house and lot and sketchy neighborhood, etc, etc. But in this house everything came together - good lot, nice house, residential neighborhood with quiet streets, close to train station. So fingers crossed. My ILs are here from CA for Ben's birthday so we're all going over this afternoon to show it to them.

Ben's birthday yesterday was a big success. He had a lot of fun with no meltdowns. We still have some presents to unwrap since he wanted to play with everything he got, but will do those today or tomorrow. We switched to a construction theme at the almost last minute but my brother made a fantastic truck cake that was just great. I haven't downloaded photos yet but will post when I do. And the trike was a huge hit. Big smiles all around.

Hope everyone's enjoying the long weekend!

[Kerri]

Just real quick about introducing new babies to toddlers. Honeygirl - I am pretty much right where you are. I don't know about Lucas, but James is pretty immature so I have definately talked about babies and stuff to him, but not in great detail. I let him touch my belly and tell him there is a baby in there. Now when we talk about babies in the belly, he looks to his belly. Super cute. When we see babies, we always look at them. He loves babies (at this point) and I always say, "you know we are going to have a baby" and he always says "YES!". I have talked to him like a grown up, just that we are having a new baby and at first I won't get to spend much time with him, but I will always love him. I think that makes me feel better. I would keep up your routine as much as possible, but for us, that is hard because everything seems to have shut down over the summer, his MMO and classes and such, but the people he has regular play dates with have volunteered to take him for playdates, and I think that will help. What else, I took James to a used book store to "pick out new books for the baby" and will have James bring them to the hospital. I also got a present for James from the New Baby (a baby doll). Other than that, just tried to set up as much help to take care of James after the baby is here as possible.

Sorry, this isn't a great picture, but here is James showing off his baby belly.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o79/wirrek/May2008/2008_05210011.jpg

Lorien - I haven't had a lot of trouble getting James in and out of the crib, but I am pretty tall. He is usually standing, jumping up and down waiting for me to get him out anyways. COngrats on the second birthday!

[TLee4]

Quick reply to the 2nd baby ?'s...
Joey was SO young that I don't think we talked much about the baby at all. (As you know, they are 14 mos apart, to the day). He loved to kind of kiss and gently whack my stomach, but I have no idea what he was THINKING when he was doing it!

Re: the crib thing, I don't remember it being an issue. Which is weird since I was ENORMOUS and Joey has always been heavy. But I don't even remember lowering the side-rail..I just plopped him in there. Sorry to be so unhelpful. :(

Terri

[granolagirl]

Hello!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I just started a new job and don't have the time to post like I used to. I was able to spend several weeks at home with Luke while I was between jobs and it was awesome. I'm so thankful I was able to do that. We had a great time.

I don't have time right now to respond, but Luke can be a picky eater, too. His favorite right now is smoothies. Can't get enough of them. He also loves fruit, yogurt and cheese. Likes corn, peas and brocolli, but most meat is out. And I can't believe he'll be 2!! Unreal. He's been "helping" us a lot outside and LOVES being outside. He always throws a fit when it's time to go inside. We spent 3 hours at the park the other day with some friends and he ran around the entire time.

His vocab is amazing. He can pretend that he is sad. He loves bath time, helping me bake (mix!), loves playing with his tractors and trucks and loves Curious George (monkey!). Fun stuff!! :)

Hope everyone is doing well!!

[TLee4]

GG, what kind of smoothies do you make? I think Joey would like that. Think I could sneak in any VEGGIES?

[lbd]

Getting him out of the crib isn't a problem -- he is always already standing or stands up when I go in. It's laying him down in it. Of course, he doesn't always stay laying down and if I set him on his feet, he'll usually sit or lay down on his own. Maybe I'm worrying too much, I just don't want to traumatize him too much with all the changes coming up.

Here (hopefully) is a photo from the birthday party. I helped with the cake but my brother really deserves most of the credit.

[TLee4]

James and Ben are both so cute!!

Lorien, I guess that's it...I didn't try to lay him down since he would just pop back up anyway. I would encourage him to lie down and he either would or would not and we just took it from there. Don't worry too much, he'll be fine. It's fun to be a big brother!

Terri

[granolagirl]

Terri, I kind of throw in what ever we have on hand. Usually the smoothie consists of yogurt, milk (to thin it a bit), a banana and some other fruit. A few types I've made: pineapple banana, berry banana, berry-pineapple-banana, banana, berry, etc. I've thought about sneaking in some veggies, too. I'm sure you could! Maybe spinach or carrots? The spinach would probably make it pretty dark, but our cups are non-see through type, so maybe I could get away with it. :)

Oh, and I use frozen fruit (at least some of the fruit) so that I don't have to add ice cubes to the smoothie and water it down.

[TLee4]

Thanks for the smoothie info...I am definitely going to try that. I was telling my doctor yesterday how I have to sneak some veggies in by pureeing them (it works out ok since I am making a lot of baby food for JP anyway, so I just sneak them into Joey's food, especially the orange ones into Mac N cheese). He said that cauliflauer is a good one to sneak in. Maybe I can try a little of that with some fruit in a smoothie.

Terri

[lbd]

So you puree carrots or sweet potato and add them to the mac & cheese? Interesting. I've avoided sneaking other than in pasta sauce where I figure it's all veggie anyway and I'm just expanding. But that leaves us with a limited number of vegs that get eaten in any quantity. I might have to try the mac idea. Thanks!

[TLee4]

Yes, squash works too! It doesn't taste that bad..I eat some too. I could use the veggies myself. :)

[Kerri]

Don't worry too much, he'll be fine. It's fun to be a big brother!

Terri

Terri - Thanks so much for saying this. It has been stuck in my head for the past couple of days. It has help to put my mind at ease.

Granolagirl - Thanks for bringing up the smoothes. I used to eat them all the time, but for some reason, frozen fruit is really expensive here. I bought some local strawberries to freeze and now patiently awaiting blueberry season. I think James will love them.

Lorien - I am responding to your comment about the ergo infant insert from the other thread. The infant insert is really just a thick, comforter like piece of fabric. I wonder if you could find something else to use instead, or buy the infant insert if you find it to work for you. Just a thought.

So, I am 38 and a half weeks pregnant, and my kid got a double ear infection and pinkeye this week. AAGGHH!! I think we caught it early, but he has been extra clingy and all I can think is that I am not going to be able to carrying him around like he wants me too.

[TLee4]

Kerri, you're welcome! :) Believe me, I had a couple of weeping sessions when Joey was 6 mos old and I was pg. I told DH "we're going to steal his baby-hood"! But he really loves the baby..he is so sweet and affectionate to him, and can't wait for JP to get up in the mornings. (Which is not to say that we don't hear plent of "No Ah Paw, Joey's truck"!) He calls John-Paul Ah Paw.

Sorry about the sick kid. Hang in there!