June 2008 Young Toddlers

[lbd]

I don't see a new thread yet so I'll get us started.

Me: 34
DH: 36
DS: Ben, just turned 2!
DD: coming October 2008

I can't say that it coincided precisely with his birthday but we're definitely getting more opposition and contrariness than we used to. Anyone else starting to get this? I'm blanking on the specific examples that I know have been happening -- things like refusing to come inside when it's time for lunch or running and hiding in his fort when it's time to clean up toys. Very frustrating but I guess it's to be expected and I'm sure it could (and will) be worse!

Since my mind seems to have gone all mushy this evening, I'll sign off and come back another day. Cheers!

[TLee4]

Hi Lorien. How was Ben's b-day? Joey's was great. No big party. We went to the zoo with my parents, and then came back to our house for cake and presents. I'll post a couple of pics.

Re: the oppositional behavior, we're not getting a ton. When I do get it I tell him what I am asking and then I say "this is your warning". Sometimes we actually get to the time-out but mostly he complies.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii91/tleexiv/joeyb-day.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii91/tleexiv/joey2.jpg

Terri

[Kerri]

Thanks for getting us started Lorien! I was going to post something the other day and didn't...maybe I had internet problems. Good thing I didn't, I didn't even think about the fact that it was a new month.

Happy birthday to all the two year olds. James still has a couple of months to go, but we battle it out every day. Lately, it is over little things, like I won't hold him while I get his juice or let him watch more videos on the computer. I just lay him down and step over him. Time outs still don't really work. He just sits there and babbles, but they work for mommy if he keeps doing something he shouldn't. We have decided to spank, but reserve that for harmful things, ie playing with the stove. The spanking (really, a firm rap on his hands with a wooden spoon) has helped with that so much!

James seems to be super clumsy lately, and it might be related to his double ear infections from last week. But seriously, the amount of bruises and scrapes on his legs is just unreal. It is so hard to watch him continuously fall. Hopefully, things will come together soon.

With summer here (are we the furthest south?) it is gotten really hot this past week. It does bother me, but I am 9 months pregnant. James doesn't really seem bothered by it, but his little face gets SO RED after being outside for just a little bit. I am really not sure how to keep him cool. Like others have said, he loves being outside. I have been really good about putting sunscreen on him, the hat is touch and go, but does anyone have any good experience with and insect repellent? Perhaps and sunscreen/insect repellent combo?

Hopefully by this point James is napping, so it is time for my nap too. I hope everyone is doing well.

[amcleod]

Hey everyone! We have 16 days to go until Michael turns two. Wow! My parents will come down and we'll get together with my bro and his family...his son is one week younger than Michael. So we have a multi-b-day celebration...and my dad's 70th is today. hard to believe.

We have a lot of not listening. And crying for no reason that I can tell. last night, we came home and Michael says he wants water. Iget it, he starts crying. Something regarding the cup I had it in. So I pull out this cup and that cup and nothing works. I don't know what finally calmed him down.

went to the doc this morning b/c of a cough and michael complaining about his ear. We were instructed to pull out the nebulizer again. Joys. But they weighed him - he hadn't been weighed since December, and he was 31 lb 6 oz or some such.

Not much else here. I joined Weight Watchers on Monday. finally. And we have booked our summer vacation...my organization is having a convention in san Diego in August, so afterwards Gary and Michael will fly out and we will rent a house at the beach for a week. Poor Gary, this will be michael's first flight and he'll be all alone. We plan to get a portable DVD player...any recommendations?

Lorien, where did you move to? Are you out of the DC area now?
Terri, cute pics! Did you make that cake yourself? V impressive!
Kerri, I need to get some repellent too!

[Bawstinn]

Happy June! My baby turns 2 today - where does the time go???

My dad and David's parents arrive tomorrow night. We've been busy getitng all the kitchen stuff out of the spare room and the office and trying to get ht ehouse in shape. It won't be perfect but it is what it is, I guess!

We got her pictures taken last night. Here are my two favorites:

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

In this one, she spotted the car the minute we got there and wanted to climb in. I thought it was cute - all dressed up in her pretty dress and she had to ride in the Radio Flyer car:

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

Other than that, not a whole lot. Meltdowns are a daily occurance but I just ignore. It doesn't make her happy but she does settle down.

[TLee4]

Maria, she is SO cute. I need a girl!!! (I was telling Dan the other day "I LIKED having two under two! So let's have another!")

Ann, yes, I did make the cake. Believe me, it didn't look so great up close. At least Joey knew who it was ("Momo") so that's what counts. Oh, and Joey weighs 32.5 lbs too. And, I need to get a portable dvd in the next week or so. We are flying 4.5 hours to CA on June 13 (our 10 year wedding anniversary). I'll let you know what I get.

Kerri, anxiously awaiting news of an easy delivery and healthy baby #2!!!

Terri

[lbd]

Kerri -- I feel like a broken record saying "no, mommy can't pick you up while she's cooking". He really likes getting out his stool and "helping" cook next to me. It usually involves filling measuring cups and spoons with a stream from the kitchen faucet, but occasionally we give him a bowl with some flour and utensils.

Great pics of Madeleine and Joey. What cuties we all have! Maria, how did (is) the visit with David's parents go? Are things better between you all now?

Ann - along with the opposition, we are also getting some breakdowns without any apparent reason, and often without a clear answer why they stopped. Very frustrating.

Well, DH is waiting to discuss house developments with me so I've gotten go. Have a good night!!

[maryellenmd]

Hi everyone,

We're just home from our vacation. We went to FL to see the in laws, and then DH and I went on a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas while Christian partied with his grandparents. The trip went really well - he was great on the plane and with his grandparents while we were gone. Everyone kept commenting on how friendly he was - shaking the men's hands and hugging the ladies when they went to visit relatives. What a little charmer. The cruise was wonderful, although a bit on the short side. ;)

Loved seeing all of your pics! They are such cute kiddos.

We will be having a very small second birthday party in a couple of weeks - just a few friends and my parents. It will be an Elmo theme. I may even buy a goldfish so that Dorothy can attend too. LOL.

Ann - where are you in the DC area? I just rejoined WW myself last month before the cruise (I know I gained like 5 lbs on this trip). We live in Montgomery County - in the Gaithersburg area.

Terri - that cake is awesome!

Maria - hope the visit with the family goes well.

Kerri - no advice on insect repellant, but Christian did get his first mosquito bite over the weekend right in the middle of his forehead. All of our FL pictures show it off. LOL.

Hi Lorien!

[NewMrsG]

Hi all -

Can you believe they're all 2/turning 2?? I probably say this every month, but still.

Macy's party is in a couple of weeks - also an Elmo theme and I'm also going to attempt the Elmo cake that it looks like you had Terri - Wilton cake pan? I'm impressed by how good yours looks! Mine will probably be a disaster, but at least I will have tried.

Joey is adorable and I love Madaleine's pictures! We have a rough time with professional pictures because it takes Macy awhile to warm up in new places and it's not until 20 seconds before the time is up that she starts to relax and smile a bit. We've had some nice pictures of her looking serious, however.

Macy has also been oppositional, although it's not particularly new. Her latest is "I SAID no" - emphasis on the said. Charming. We handle it by not paying attention to her or letting her move on to anything else until she's done what she needs to do. Doesn't always work. Timeouts aren't terribly successful for her because she finds a way to amuse herself no matter where we put her. But taking away whatever it is that she wants works fairly well.

Ann - re flights - we just took Macy on her 6th flight. What works best is to have lots of options for her, what she wants to do is unpredictable. So when she tires of one thing, we move on to the next. We figure out what we want her to have on the plane early and make sure she doesn't have a chance to play with it the week or two before the flight. Then buy one new something for her - a book or something like that. She got a kick out of my ipod and headphones. Letting her walk up and down the aisle helped alot too.

Maria - how was the visit? Did David's family behave themselves?

Maryellen - I'm envious of your cruise!

A quick question - we need to take treats to daycare for Macy's birthday. I can take cupcakes but I feel like they're always getting those for the kids' celebrations so wanted to try to bring something a bit more healthy. Any suggestions for something that would be a real treat (i.e. more special than just fruit salad)?

[TLee4]

Ha-ha you guys..I'm not being modest, the cake was not that great! Anyone else who makes it (yes, with the Wilton pan) is guaranteed to look as good or better than mine. A decorator I am not!

Terri

[lbd]

Wow! but we're an inactive group this month. I hope you all have more fun reasons than mine for being MIA -- we had a stomach virus go through the house that just didn't want to leave. At first we thought my dad had food poisoning but a couple days later Ben caught it then I did. Poor Ben was vomiting off and on or a full week and had diarrhea at least that long. He just got his appetite back on Monday and finally seems back to normal.

He spent the morning today with Grandma, Grandpa and his cousin so I got a lovely block of free time. Had a bunch of house-related stuff to do but also did some online shopping. Kohl's has a bunch of kid stuff at least 50% off today through the (I think) the weekend. I got mostly stuff for the baby next summer but they had older toddler stuff as well. Ben is now singing himself to sleep (hopefully) and I'm hoping to sit and relax while he naps. Knock wood.

That's all I've got for now. Ciao!!

[amcleod]

Maybe the shock of the little ones turning two is more than we can bear :) Tomorrow it is Michael's turn. I can't believe it. I am making cookies tonight for him to have at daycare and I think I will ask them to order pizza for everyone too, since Michael loves pizza. (They have a monthly pizza lunch so I know they will do this.) I'm quite unorganized otherwise.

We're going to get a tricycle for Michael but of course we haven't bought one yet. I am taking off tomorrow so that is one of my errands. Along with a mani-pedi for me :) the problem is we want to get something a little "different" and I am stumped on where to go to buy it. I am stumped on where to go to buy any old tricycle. someone recommended this huge baby store so I guess I will go up there. Otherwise we'll just order on-line. Luckily a two-year-old won't realize that his b-day present is a few days late.

My parents are coming down for the weekend and surprisingly enough, this morning michael proved he can say "grandma" and "grandpa" so that will be nice for them to hear.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[Bawstinn]

Just a quick hello from me. :) Survived the party, survived Dave's parents, survived the stomach flu his mother brought with her and infected all but Madeleine and I.

We have a little thing called a flood going on here. Our house is fine but all roads over the river but one were closed, so we had 1.5 hour commutes (each way) rather than our usual 20 minutes.

Time to give someone a bath - she was applying blue cheese dressing topically at supper. :rolleyes:

[maryellenmd]

We celebrated Christian's second birthday on Saturday, and we had a fun party. It was a good time. The perfect day complete with lots of Elmo fanfare. He seemed to really enjoy himself. Today is the actual birthday - we are hoping to go to Chuck E Cheese for some more fun. The big gift is literally big - pet shop tent that is taking up my backyard, but he loved it! And he also got a water table. I cannot believe he is two!! I will be back to post a picture or two.

Ann - are you going to the Great Beginnings store? That place is cool and near our house.

Hope you are all well.

[lbd]

I love Great Beginnings! It was 25-30 minutes away for us but we went there for carseats and strollers. I don't think we actually bought the stroller there though because they would have had to order the design we chose and the guy suggested we call around and see if we could find it in-stock somewhere. Their customer service is great. We never bought any of the furniture but Ben had a fantastic time playing on all the bunkbeds in the furniture showroom - that place is incredible!

So as we were getting ready to head out on Saturday, my mom mentioned a yard sale she noticed that looked like it had some kid stuff. DH and I headed over and ended up with a picnic table, playhouse, and *pirate ship*, all Little Tykes, for, drumroll please . . . $10. Total! :D:D The table and a basic playhouse we probably would have eventually gotten anyway but never would have spent the money for a pirate ship, which is the absolute coolest. Ben has already learned "yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!", courtesy of DH. I definitely see more yard sales in our future.

[amcleod]

Hi there! Michael had a low-key b-day; donuts and cookies at school, then a family-only party at my brother and SILs, since their son is a week younger than Michael and my parents were visiting. It was funny, I baked a cake (just a round one) and Michael was saying 'Cake! Cake!" but come to the party and he wouldn't eat any! Too funny. My nephew the other bday boy devoured his piece tho.

I ended up buying the trike at Toys R Us. Lorien and Mary Ellen, I did go up to Great Beginnings b/c someone said they had a good variety, but all they had were the Kettler trikes. I wanted one w/a push handle and I just don't think their push handles are very strong. So, got a Radio Flyer and the push handle on it actually can steer the trike. It is great and Michael loves it.

So, funny thing - when my parents were saying good bye, my mom said, "OK MIchael, we'll see you at the beach!" ... that's the next time we'll see them - August at the beach in San Diego. Ever since then, EVERY day, michael says "I go beach! I go Beach! Grandma!" With that one reference. So cute. Not that he remembers what the beach is.

Today was Michael's 2 year appt. He is 36.5 inches and 31 pounds. And has a big head. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

[Bawstinn]

Just thought I'd pop on with a quick hello.

Madeleine is very much into testing us these days and we actually stuck her in time out today. She is familiar with it since they use it at daycare but we have never applied it at home. Wow, she was so upset while she sat their for her whole minute (although she acted like it was killng her) but she was quite the little angel for the rest of the night.

No real challenges these days but she is talking up a storm. You wait for the first word and are so happy when they talk ... but I do find myself wondering if there is volume control and I do relish the 3 minute drive I have from daycare to work by myself. 'Mommy go to work? Mommy go to work? Mommy got to work?' Yes, Madeleine, mommy is going to work. 'Mommy go to work.' Then she repeats it for daddy. Then she points out the truck and the motorcycles. Names the colors of the cars as they go by. Starts babbling about the kids at school and who knows what else. What is funny is if we don't acknowledge what she is saying, she'll just repeat it and keep repeating it and she gets louder each time ... to be so cheery at 6:30 AM.

Anne - that is the same tricyle we got for Madeleine. We get past two houses when she decides she wants to be the one pushing it. Then I somehow end up pushing an empty trike while she investigates. My dad gave her a baby stroller. Same thing happens - I end up pushing it after 100 feet or so.

She also got a water table for her birthday. Best. Gift. Ever. I can actually garden and she is occupied. She ends up stripping herself down to her diaper while she uses it but, hey, my vegetable garden doen't have any weeds. :D

[TLee4]

Hi all..I'll pop in too. Happy Belated B-day to all of the 2's!

Things are good here. Joey also has had a verbal explosion in recent months. Maria, I really like the talking part in general but the "repeating" is not my favorite part of toddler-hood either. Same here..if you don't acknowledge what he is saying (or if you try to fake that you understand it..it never works) he repeats louder and louder and louder!

Is anyone doing much with the potty at this point? Joey is having quite an interest so I'm trying to take advantage of it. He's certainly nowhere near trained, but we've had lots of successes lately.

Other than that, we are just enjoying summer. We spent quite a lot of time out in the little pool yesterday. He likes his water table too (we got it last year).

Poor John-Paul (now almost 11 mos) is going to grow up thinking his name is "no no". Whenever he gets near Joey's stuff, Joey yells "no no, Jah Paw..no no"!

Terri

[Bawstinn]

Terri - we are still plugging away with the potty here. Madeleine wears pull-ups during the day and regular diaper at night. Most days she wakes up with a dry diaper and heads into the bathroom first thing. Even though she is still in the Transition Room (1-2 yr olds, not moving until Aug) they take her to the potty in the Toddler room (where they typically start training).

She tells me when she needs to go (pee) and we visit the restrooms at all the local restaurants and retail stores - YUCK. She will NOT tell me when she needs to poop and it is driving me crazy. To the point where she will tell me she needs to go, will pee on the potty and 10 minutes later she walks by me and I get a whiff. Does the same at daycare. Half the time she walks up to them to tell them she already went. At home she has gone into the diaper bag, pulled out the wipes and diaper and lays down on the floor when her diaper needed changing. :confused:

One cute story though - the other morning I left her sitting on the potty while I went to get her clothes. I came back and she was covering the seat with toilet paper and trying to get back on w/o knocking it off. We had been out to eat the night before and she had to go - I didn't have her seat with us and they didn't have the paper covers so I covered the set with toilet paper. My little sponge. :o

Speaking of sponge ... the other morning we had dropped David off at work and then went to daycare. As we were driving over there I was dealing with a woman tailgating me the whole way over and then started honking and gesturing at me because I wouldn't cut someone off to take my left turn. Anyway, I MAY have said 'back off b*' and then bit my lip. Sure enough I hear it repeated from the back seat. oops.

[TLee4]

Maria, I've heard that is very typical about the poop. Interesting about Joey, he seems more interested in doing #2 in the potty than #1! What kind of seat do you carry with you out in public? Even though we have a little potty at home, most of Joey's success has been on the big potty (no ring or anything..he just holds himself on).

[Bawstinn]

Terri - it is a fold up seat I found at Walmart that fits in the diaper bag. Plastic ring, just sits on top of the toilet. We only have the rings at home although she has decided she doesn't want to sit on them anymore. She would rather balance herself on the big seat.

[TLee4]

Thanks for the info.
Oh, and Madeline is lucky she is just getting time-outs at home. Joey has had plenty. As soon as we put him in he starts chanting "sorry, sorry, sorry, Joey SAY SORRY!" :)

[maryellenmd]

Hi all,

At his second year appointment, Christian was 37 inches, and 30 lbs! What a big kid.

Yeah, the water table is great. He was playing with it yesterday while DH and I actually got to sit on the patio for a bit. His other favorite birthday present is a bubble blower - he figured out how to hold down the handle to blow the bubbles, and was shouting, Bubble, Bubble, Bubble. LOL. Too funny.

Potty training - we have a potty, but he has shown no real little interest except for hiding things in it. Don't think we are anywhere near ready there.

Is anyone sending their kids to a Montessori program? We are considering a change in daycare, and I don't know much about Montessori, but there are several programs in the area.

Hope you're all well. I can't believe it's July tomorrow!

[TLee4]

MaryEllen and Amcleod, Joey is 34.5 inches and 31 lbs. They are all pretty close to each other in size!

Terri

[Bawstinn]

Madeleine was just over 35 inches and almost 29 pounds when we went for her 2 month check-up.

She was running a fever of 102 yesterday so we stayed home today. I got a call from daycare that 2 kids have hand, foot, mouth disease and they asked if that was why she was out. I haven't given her Tylenol all day and she is hoverig around 99.4 - 99.8. I am hoping this is just her latest teeth coming in.

[SooCookie]

Just a quick post - have I really not posted all month! :eek: I will update more in next month's thread but I just wanted to add that my little Kayla is a peanut compared to all your kids! At her 2 year appointment, she was 24lbs and 32" long. Yep, 10th percentile all around here!

Maria - hope Madeleine feels better, and that it is not hand foot and mouth disease!

Michelle