August Wobbly Tobblers

[LHBryan]

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's August already. For those of us in cold climates, summer goes by way too quickly! How's everyone doing? I hope some of the wobbly toddler Moms we haven't heard from in a while, as well as the lurkers, will check in.

((Lori)) I hope this week is better for you! You really need a break!
((Poppy)) Sounds like a challenging time for you too!
Last night I was reading in "The Sleepeasy Solution" that all the tantrums, boundary testing, and sleep regressions are completely normal for this age. Not that that helps matters at all!
Leah--Is Danny still acting odd?

Me: Laura, 36
DH: 45
DD: Hannah, 14 months

Accomplishments: Walking everywhere! Oh my, she seems so grown up now. Also very vocal with lots of new words, as long as we use our imaginations. She still loves to say "Wow!", hi, Mommy (used to be Mama, but now it sounds like Mammy:o), and Daddy, but I think there's also doggie, walk, duck, nose, mouth, eyes, shoes, moo for cow, nay for horse, "Oh Boy!," "Uh Oh!," and probably a few more. She seems to be very mechanically inclined, spending lots of time investigating screws that hold things together, battery compartments, etc.:) She's been in terrific spirits the past week or so, with fewer tantrums and carpet biting incidents and less clinginess, and has been great at following instructions and willingly relinquishing objects. I'll take it while it lasts! Her second front upper tooth is going to work its way through any moment, so I'm sure the crankiness will return.

Challenges: Those pesky dry patches on her ankles, crook of her arms, and behind her knees. If we don't stay on top of them, they get so red. They don't seem to bother her too much, but I'm anxious to ask her dr. about them at her 15-mo. appt. Hannah is a great eater, but we're in a rut w/ our offerings and she hasn't been eager to expand her repertoire (still no squash--and our garden overfloweth:p--, broccoli, legume beans, melted cheese, pasta, rice, or combo foods unless it's dessert:rolleyes:). I bought some Morningstar Farms broccoli cheese nuggets to try, hoping that they're similar enough to her beloved faux-chicken nuggets that she'll gradually overcome her broccoli and melted cheese texture issues. Our other challenge is weaning from BFing. She still nurses before bed and first thing in the a.m. and doesn't seem quite ready to give it up, especially in the a.m. when she's furious to even be sidetracked by a diaper change.:rolleyes: I'm ready to wean, but don't want to rush her. Advice is welcome! I guess we'll work on eliminating the before-bed session first, since it's brief and she's still full from dinner. Do you give your LOs milk with dinner and then milk again before bed?

In the last post of the July thread, Poppy posted two questions I've also wondered about:

Two quick questions:

1) How long can you leave milk out? I am finally on my last can of formula (got a bulk delivery right before her 1st birthday because the company was worried about insurance approval after she turned one) and was wondering how long she can sip on a sippy cup of milk before I need to throw it away. Also can I serve her milk she already drank from if I put it right back in the refrig? With my formula, I cannot do that.

2) Do they sell Motrin in bulk??? :o

We tend to give Hannah any leftover snack milk w/ dinner since it's just about 1 1/2 hours later (keeping the cup in the fridge, of course), but I always wonder if that's a good idea. What does everyone else do? Oh, and those tiny Motrin bottles are ridiculous!

[PoppyJ]

Thanks for starting the thread Laura.

Me: Poppy, 33
DH: 38
DD: Avery, 15 months

We are taking Avery to her 15 month appointment today. I am anixous to get some answers to all the questions I have. I also want to see how much she weighs. I have not turned her carseat around yet and want to see if it is time. Has anyone else turned the carseat around?

Avery has not been into eating lately and it is frustrating. The only thing she seems to want to eat is peaches, clementines, yogurt, cheese, and zucchini. Anything else is tossed on the floor- which is getting really old really fast. (Are they too young to teach them table manners?) I keep trying to get her to try other things but she won't. She is not a big fan of bread (are you sure she is my daughter???:rolleyes:) and there is no way I can get any meat or fish down her. I am going to have to look for those broccoli cheese nuggets.

As for when I offer Avery milk- I give her a sippy cup when she wakes up in the morning, a bottle before her nap and bedtime. Othertimes I just offer water. I have no idea if that is right or not.

[ellery]

Hi ladies! Laura, thanks for getting us started this month. :)

Me: 37 (and still holding on for dear life)
DH: 39
Danny: 16 months and change

Let's see if I can remember everything...

leftover milk - um, I may not be winning the mom of the year award here, but I rely on the "smell test." If Danny doesn't finish a cup, it goes back into the fridge and I add to it next go round. I'll do this for a day or two.

Motrin in bulk - I wish! I try hard to not give Danny Tylenol or Motrin every day, as I worry about the effect on his kidneys, but at times when he's teething... :rolleyes: Since he seems to be getting molars or something big at the moment, I try not to give him anything during the day (he's busy and distracted and doesn't seem as bothered by stuff) and just give it to him at night when it seems to interfere with his sleep. I've found that he'll let me know which nights he needs it or not (he'll wake up after an hour or two, if he's even able to get to sleep - when he otherwise sleeps all night without a peep).

I haven't turned our carseat around yet. I'm waiting until I absolutely have to, especially after seeing that carseat video on youtube about the safety of forward facing versus rear facing. I think I posted a link in one of the month's threads.

food variety - um, not much progress on that front here either. I'd had lofty aspirations when pregnant about not introducing my kid to sugar, having him be exposed to all kinds of different foods, becoming a foodie, etc... and I've given that up essentially (for the time being). I've found that cinnamon sugar is very helpful! The only veggies Danny will eat are a sweet potato/carrot combination that I fix for him (with cinnamon sugar mixed in). He'll do regular mashed potatos with broccoli (some Gerber thing). But beyond that he won't do vegetables. From what I've read, if they eat enough fruits it's okay, as the nutrients in fruits are pretty much the same as the ones in veggies. With that in mind, I've been doing a lot of smoothies for Danny, which he loves. I can mix in a lot of fruits he wouldn't eat otherwise (like mango) which are nutrient packed. Between the smoothies and his assorted (iron fortified) cereals that he loves and eats daily, I try to just relax and figure he's eating better than he used to, seems healthy and happy, and let it go at that. I keep trying new things with him (and getting shot down) but oh well, what are you gonna do? ;)

Weaning - I had a hard time deciding which feeding to give up first (I'd cut down to all but morning and evening) and because the evening one was my favorite, I gave that one up last. I just brought a bottle/cup with me in the mornings when Danny woke up, changed his diaper and then we snuggled in his chair while he had his bottle (momma still needed her snuggles). I'd give him milk for dinner and then he'd nurse before bed (I doubted he really got much since he was full already). When I was (emotionally) ready, I eliminated that nighttime feeding on a Friday night (figuring if I was uncomfortable from not nursing that I'd rather be uncomfortable on a weekend than at work during the week). I just substituted cuddling before putting Danny in his crib for nursing and he really didn't seem to mind. :( I was a little uncomfortable for a few weeks of the final weaning but did a little, um, manual expression during the day (just a little when I couldn't take the discomfort any more) and eventually my body figured it out.

table manners - I don't think it's too young to teach them. When Danny starts tossing stuff I remove the offending food item and tell him "no, we do not throw food." If he does it again, then the meal is over. If he protests, he gets one more shot and if he does it again we're done. He only seems to throw when he doesn't like something or is full.

I think that's everything. Things are pretty quiet around our house. Had a little drama today with a phone call from daycare - Danny tripped and hit a table, biting the inside of his lip quite effectively (you can clearly see in his bottom lip the half-circle of the teeth mark). Apparently there was quite a lot of blood (I'm so glad I wasn't there) and he now has a fat lip but otherwise is okay. He also seemed to jam his finger en route, and his pinkie finger is swollen and bruised on the bottom knuckle, and he cries if it bumps into anything. He's still using his hand, so I don't think it's broken, and the daycare director and I talked about it for a while this afternoon, and she said he most likely doesn't need to see the doctor about it. I'm sure she's right, but reassurance from other moms would be nice (hint hint to anyone lurking)...

It's a new week, so we have a new personality. :D No real weird behaviors, just limit testing, etc. I absolutely love this age, though. He's so much fun and it's so exciting to see him figuring the world out, learning new things, trying out some new words (although he doesn't use them often). The biggest challenge I'm facing, to be honest, is remembering to be consistent in how I respond to him when he does something I don't like. As in responding quickly, calmly, etc.

Here's a pic from this past weekend. We went to that indoor playground place again and I just love this pic. Such pure joy in his face!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d627b3127ccec499a6654d9a00000040O00AcNGbNk1ZuW IPbz4M/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D480/ry%3D320/

[LHBryan]

Thought I'd bump us back up! All the wobbly toddler Moms must be busy as usual. I can't seem to pull myself away from the Olympics late at night, so I'm exhausted and ready for the weekend.

Poppy- How was Avery's appointment? Regarding table manners, I don't think it's too young to start. When Hannah plays with her food, intentionally drops it on the floor (a slow release accompanied by a devilish grin), or spits out something she likes, I calmly remove it and ask "all done?" along with the sign. At that point, she really isn't interested in eating and she usually signs and says all done ("ah dun"). When she first started throwing food, I firmly told her no and said "If you don't want X, then put it on your tray or give it to Mommy." So, lucky me, she doesn't really throw food, but she'll hand it to me if she doesn't want it--yes, chewed up stringy beans and all.:rolleyes: Occasionally she'll still drop something she doesn't want on the floor, then look down at it and say "NO!" So I think she's old enough to know it's wrong.:p As for the carseat, we reluctantly turned ours around last weekend before a roadtrip. Hannah doesn't love the car, so it was an attempt at making her happy and minimizing her grunting and grinding against the harness.:rolleyes: We also think she has some nausea issues w/ riding backwards. She seems more comfortable and actually napped easily in the car on Saturday.

Leah--Love the happy photo. What a cutie pie! So sorry about Danny's fall at daycare. They sure do take some rough tumbles at this age! I'm sorry I didn't post any reassurances. If something similar happened to us, we'd probably just watch DD closely for any odd signs before taking her to the doctor. Hannah fell the other day into a table and had a bit of blood in her mouth. I wasn't home, but apparently she was back to full-force playing within a couple of minutes. Tough cookie.

Thanks for the advice about weaning. We've dropped the bedtime nursing without batting an eye.:( All she wants is her "peacemaker" (aka pacifier, which she still uses for naps and bedtime. Can't wait to try to wean her from that one!). So, now we put her in her sleepsack, she tells DH goodnight, she gets her lovey and peacemaker, and we sit in rocking chair and read a second story together. We cuddle just a minute and then she wants her crib. My supply has plummeted over the past few weeks, so I think we'll wean from the morning feeding very soon.

Nothing really new here. Hannah is moving at lightning speed, so we're going to have to ramp up our childproofing. She's had some teething trouble this week from the 2nd top tooth that still hasn't popped through, but nothing ibuprofen can't handle. She started making those very high-pitched shreiking sounds, which is a bit problematic w/ having all our windows open in this beautiful weather. I'm sure the neighbors just love us at 6am! I think she's gearing up to take her tantrums to an all new level of intensity ... Otherwise, she's adorable and so much fun.

How's everyone else?

-Laura

[PoppyJ]

Laura, I have always wondered what the neighbors think of us when they hear Avery screaming because my little girl has quite impressive lungs for such a little thing. Sorry about the teething too...Avery was up from midnight until after 3:30 because of teething last night.

Leah, What a cute and happy little guy. What is the name of the indoor playground? I would LOVE to have something like that here. I would be there everyday. And I like your milk answer because that is what I was planning to do and I wanted some reassurance.:o I hope Danny is doing OK with his lip and finger.

Our appointment went well. She is a whopping 20 lbs and 3 oz. The doctor was happy with all of her progress and was impressed with all of her signs. :D Proud Mama. He did say that we are probably creating a picky eater by offering her food after food until we find something she wants at every meal. I had a feeling that is what I was doing but I want her to eat. I am working on it but it is hard since she doesn't like most things.

We are leaving to visit my sister in Texas next Thursday. I am so nervous about the flights especailly after our last trip. Not sure if I told you all but to make a very long story short- all four of our flights were delayed by at least 2hours, 2 were canceled, and 2 were rerouted. And we did not land before 1 AM on both coming and going. Needless to say, lots of tears were shed by all. So either I am very brave or very stupid- or a little of both!

Have a good weekend everyone.

[TLee4]

Delurking into your thread...
(I can't seem to keep up with the other toddler thread I post on so I'm hesitant to start on another! :D)

Anyway, John-Paul turned 1 on August 2. Unlike his brother who seemed to have no learning curve, he really is still fairly clueless on the sippy cup. I had Joey off of the bottle completely at 13 mos, which I really liked because he seemed too young to even care or miss it and it went very smoothly. I'm anticipating that it will take a bit longer with JP, which is fine. My doctor said that 15 mos is a good place to aim. Other than continuing to give it to him to try, does anyone have any other thoughts? I've given him several different types and he mostly just chews. My doctor said that if I just take him off the bottle cold-turkey, he will get thirsty and learn, but that seemed a little extreme to me! :(

To add to the problem, I have committed the cardinal sin of giving him bottles in bed, so I'm sure that won't make it any easier.

Any thoughts are appreciated!
Terri

[LA98]

Hi Terri, I've mentioned on this thread that both my kids had trouble with sippy cups but took to straw cups very easily. You could also try gradually reducing the amount in the bottle until there's just an ounce or so. I did that with Brian and he lost interest in it (and he really *loved* his bottles). Jason (just turned 16 months) was down to one bottle (bedtime) and I just got him off that this past week. The kids had been at my parents for a few hours one night so DH and I could go out; my mother told me he didn't want the bottle from her so the following night I just didn't give him one. No problem at all. I can't believe we're finally bottle free for good in our house!

Hopefully will be back later tonight to respond to everyone else! :)

[TLee4]

Thanks Lori. I forgot to say that he is clueless on the straw ones too but I will keep trying!
(Kind of funny..do you know those camelback backpack things that you can use on a bike? They have a long plastic tube to drink from? Well, the kid who is clueless with all of these other things will crawl up to that thing and slurp out of it every chance he gets!)

Terri

[PoppyJ]

Hi Terri, I've mentioned on this thread that both my kids had trouble with sippy cups but took to straw cups very easily. You could also try gradually reducing the amount in the bottle until there's just an ounce or so. I did that with Brian and he lost interest in it (and he really *loved* his bottles). Jason (just turned 16 months) was down to one bottle (bedtime) and I just got him off that this past week. The kids had been at my parents for a few hours one night so DH and I could go out; my mother told me he didn't want the bottle from her so the following night I just didn't give him one. No problem at all. I can't believe we're finally bottle free for good in our house!

Hopefully will be back later tonight to respond to everyone else! :)

Quick question- do you give him a straw cup at night now that Jason is off the bottle or do you just put him to bed without any milk? I am planning to take the bottle away from Avery (down to two- one before the nap and one before bedtime) as soon as we get back from our trip.

[ellery]

Hi everyone. :)

Terri - good to see you! Feel free to stay, hang out, have some snacks... ;) Danny was not a fan of giving up his bottle either, but I got a lecture at his 15 month appointment and thus motivated, we began the transition. I'd been giving him the sippy cup at meals just to see if he took to it (and no go). He seemed like he understood the concept but just didn't want to. He transitioned in a day, though. I offered him the sippy at breakfast and he didn't want any. Tried again for snack, he had a taste and still turned up his nose. By lunch he was officially over his protest and drank out of it like a champ. So he was thirsty/hungry for less than four hours and he's never looked back since.

Poppy - how many bottles/cups a day is Avery getting? Danny gets a cup at dinner time (around 6:15) and goes to bed by 7:15 without any extra milk or liquids and does just fine. And I hear you on the picky eater thing. Very frustrating. I'm thinking about supplementing with Pediasure just so that Danny can get some nutrients that aren't found in yogurt, applesauce and crackers. ;)

Laura, sorry to hear Hannah's getting that top tooth. Mean teeth! Just wait till those stinkin molars come in. :(

Meanwhile we're having a traumatic week so far. Danny transitioned into the "turtle" room this week (after a few visits last week) and so far is not a fan. There was a lot of frantic sobbing yesterday when I tried to leave (even after hanging out with him in his new room for 15 minutes), he didn't eat much for them yesterday, and to top it off he got bitten by another kid about 20 minutes before I got there yesterday afternoon. There was a perfect teeth imprint on his arm (top and bottom jaw) and I was contemplating going all CSI on things, taking a dental impression, doing some interrogations, etc. and determining the culprit so that I could send 'em up the river... He just seemed shell-shocked when I picked him up, and he was awful to get to bed. He kept screaming bloody murder whenever I tried to leave the room and finally I just held and rocked him to sleep (which he hasn't needed since he was 9 months old).

This morning was a repeat performance of desperate sobbing and clinging to me for dear life. :( Apparently yesterday he finally calmed down and had an okay day, but he's still very clingy and needs a lot of reassurance.

Poor guy. He transitioned so easily to the last room that I hadn't envisioned it being this traumatic this time. :(

[TLee4]

Thanks for the replies, and I just might have to stay here, if there are snacks involved! :D

Leah, how sad about Danny and the bite! Poor guy. So far my guy has been bitten twice by his own brother. :(

Terri

[ellery]

Thanks for the replies, and I just might have to stay here, if there are snacks involved! :D

Sure thing. What would you like? I've already eaten all of the Twizzlers but may share my chocolate chip cookies... :D



Leah, how sad about Danny and the bite! Poor guy. So far my guy has been bitten twice by his own brother. :(

So no CSI moves or interrogation needed. ;)

Yeah, the biting is one of the reasons they waited so long to move him into this particular room. He's a very easy-going little fellow and they weren't sure how he'd do with the more aggressive kids. I guess he needs to learn how to stand up for himself at some point, but I wish there was an easier way than to be on the receiving end of this kid's teeth. (There is one main biter, with a few others that do it on occasion). My poor baby!

[LA98]

Terri, LOL about the backpack thing. So he CAN do it, right? ;) Hang in there and keep offering it and he'll take it sooner or later. Can't believe John-Paul is 1 already! (Love that name, takes me back to a high school crush :) )

Leah, you keep cracking me up with the Twizzlers. It's my candy of choice. Dangerous stuff... I am SO sorry about Danny having some trouble adjusting to his new room and getting bitten. :( Brian was bitten 3 or 4 times at his daycare. It's so upsetting seeing those marks on them. Have you spoken to the lead teacher? They really should be taking some steps with a known biter (how's that for a label?), as in paying extra attention to that child when they're playing with another child. Not that they can always intervene quickly enough, but they should be at least trying to prevent it. In Brian's case, they told me each time that it was a first offense for the biter. :rolleyes: I worried that it would turn him into a biter but it didn't, in case you're worrying about that.

Poppy, same thing here with the milk as Leah said: Dinnertime is fairly close to bedtime so I don't give Jason any extra milk in a cup before bed. (I did that with Brian though and totally regretted it. It was much harder to break the habit later!) Good luck with your trip, hopefully no delays this time! (Yikes, however did you manage last time!?!)

I've got to say I'm back to being in love with this age. Okay, not loving the tantrums and screeching, but boy is Jason doing lots of cute stuff lately, mostly mimicking that's just hilarious: He's got a book he's obsessed with, one of those tactile ones with flaps. We turn the pages and he takes my hand and rubs my finger on the parts that are scratchy or furry or whatever. And when the flap is closed he raises his hands in that "where is it" way. So, so, so cute. He's also been trying to play baseball like big brother and walking around holding a play cell phone to his ear (no idea where he's seen that :p )

Oh, and since I complained here about not having any time to myself, I'll report that DH and I got 6 consecutive, uninterrupted hours together on our anniversary (10th!) a couple of weeks ago. We went to a concert and had an awesomely good time. Yay us. :D

[LHBryan]

Happy Friday everyone!

Poppy--Hope your trip is going well! We'll be flying again in September, so I'd love to hear any tips or ideas for travel toys/in-flight entertainment. As for your milk before bed question, we don't give Hannah any more milk after dinner. Glad Avery's dr.'s appt went well.

Terri--Good to "see" you again! I don't have any sippy cup advice b/c Hannah still has trouble tipping it up and likes for us to help her. This is probably b/c we switch between sippy and straw cups, which you don't tip up. Poor girl. She's been off bottles since just after her 1st birthday, and I figure she'll be completely self-sufficient soon enough. We just need to work with her a bit more.

Lori--So glad things are going better and you and your DH enjoyed some alone time together!! I'm embarassed to admit that we've never even hired a babysitter, nor do we have family in the area, so I don't think we've had any alone time in eons. A good friend really wants to babysit and keeps offering. I should take her up on it. Perhaps I find it easier to just take Hannah along with us then b**ch about how hard it is.:rolleyes: Jason sounds so cute w/ his flap book!

((Leah and Danny))--So sorry about the tough transition at daycare! Sounds like it's the "Snapping Turtle" room.:mad: I'm so afraid Hannah will be the biter in her room! What a rough week for you and Danny. I experienced some frantic sobbing one day this week, and it's so heartwrenching. Ugh. Does he seem to be doing any better? I hope you have a fun, relaxing weekend planned for both of you. Does Danny's daycare let him "visit" the new room periodically leading up to the move? Thankfully Hannah's is really into lots of visits (sometimes even full day) over a month-long period, but change is still tough.

We're having a pretty good week here. We babysat a friend's almost 5yo DS on Monday night, and Hannah LOVED watching his every move. He made her laugh harder than ever before, and for the first time we could perhaps imagine (me more than DH) the fun--and chaos--of having a 2nd little one in the house.:eek: Hannah's latest obesession is playing peek-a-boo while walking, so she has a big goose egg on her forehead from running into the doorframe while walking with her sleep sack over her head.:rolleyes: Silly girl.

Does anyone else have a terribly impatient child? Hannah gets so crazed while waiting for her food, particularly breakfast. If you have this problem, do you give in to it and give them a snack to appease them (a handful of Cheerios or goldfish crackers) until you have their meal ready? Or, do you just keep explaining that the food will be ready soon. You'd think we routinely let her go hungry or something.:confused: At any rate, the shrieking is a bit much, especially at 6am, but I don't want her to think that shrieking instantly gets her a handful of something tasty.

Lastly, do your LOs still use a pacifier? We do for naps and bedtime, and Hannah LOVES it. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the inevitable pacifier weaning. Did your dr's say anything about it at the 15 mo. appt.? Do you have any idea when you'll try to wean from the pacifier? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

-Laura

[ellery]

I'm embarassed to admit that we've never even hired a babysitter, nor do we have family in the area, so I don't think we've had any alone time in eons. A good friend really wants to babysit and keeps offering. I should take her up on it. Perhaps I find it easier to just take Hannah along with us then b**ch about how hard it is.:rolleyes:



Um, at least you go out! We've never so much as go out to eat with Danny. :o I mean we go out and do stuff as a family all the time, but we've never had a babysitter either. One of his former teachers has offered and she lives just a few minutes away, so I keep meaning to set something up but haven't. I guess we're just not exciting people!

As for the ravenous hunger and insistence that we don't feed them at mealtimes, I've decided it's easier to just give in, as there is no reasoning with a kid this age. I greet Danny in his room in the mornings with a sippy cup of milk (he drinks it while I'm changing him and getting him dressed for the day). That holds him until we make it downstairs for breakfast. I also give him a snack before dinner (it's usually whatever cereal is leftover in his cup from the morning) - he eats it on the ride home from daycare and seems to tide him over until dinner (which is a mere 30 minutes later). Even then that's not always foolproof. Danny shook so hard on the babygate separating the den and kitchen the other night that it fell over - he was frustrated that I was taking too long to fix his dinner and clearly wanted to get into the kitchen to tell me so. (Which gives me so much confidence about the security of that babygate - we didn't want one we had to drill into the walls to put up, but clearly this one is not at all secure - eek.)

Pacifiers - Danny just uses one for sleep (naps and bedtime), so I'm thinking it can't be too bad for him. I plan to have him use it for as long as he needs it or until my pediatrician tells me it's time for it to go. I don't have any problem with him having a crutch (says she who's eating Red Vines at the moment - gotta mix up the licorice brands).

Still struggling on the Turtle transition here. He did have some visitation before starting full time this week, but only a few days' worth. Fortunately Danny hasn't been bitten anymore this week (knocking on wood) but he still has a really hard time in the mornings. His little fingers start gripping tighter and tighter once we walk into the Turtle room and there is a lot of hysterical sobbing when I try to leave. Apparently he's bonded to one of his teachers (she's Latina like his former teachers) and this poor woman has to sneak out a side door to go to the bathroom because Danny needs to have her around at all times. They told me that the other day he just parked himself by the side door that she'd gone through, just waiting for her to come back. :( It breaks my heart that he's having such a rough time. I brought him a lovey from home this morning to see if he wants it during naptime or other stressful times, so we'll see if it helped any. His favorite teacher isn't there when we get there in the mornings, so I feel bad for the other one who Danny doesn't want anything to do with when I drop him off. :(

We're pretty much waterlogged here from Fay, so looks like an indoor weekend for us. Hope everyone else has a good weekend.

ps Lori - congrats on getting alone time with the hubby. Want a Red Vine? ;)

ps2 do you all feel weird about posting pics? I'd love to see some of our little ones.

[LHBryan]

Leah--Danny's daycare stories are breaking my heart!:( I hope the lovey helped and that next week is much, much better. At least he's bonded with one of the teachers....

A downside and an upside of Hannah's daycare is that the teachers are always switching around, relieving one another for breaks, or work just MWF or TH, etc. They also consolidate classes at the end of the day (most kids leave at ~4:30) and go to different rooms. Occasionally I've never even met the teacher she's with at the end of the day (but the teacher knows Hannah) b/c her regular teachers leave around 4ish. So, I suppose the plus side is that she's pretty familiar with everyone by the time she transitions.

Hope y'all dry out from Fay! Oh, and trust me, we don't go out often AT ALL. Hannah has gotten really loud, so I assume we'll go out even less frequently than before. We've had so many out of town guests this summer that we usually have to go out for at least one meal during the visit b/c I go insane trying to cook every single meal--especially when it's 7 guests for 4 nights! But I digress.... I'm glad I'm not the only one who hasn't hired a babysitter yet. All I really want to do sans DD is go out for a movie and sushi, but paying someone to watch Hannah for us to do that seems so decadent when $$ is tight. Not to speak of the fact that I'm so neurotic I either wouldn't enjoy myself or I'd have to leave them with a zillion pages of instructions.

Thank you, thank you for relating your ravenous toddler strategies. I always worry we have a deranged child in that regard. This morning was unbearable. No patience whatsoever. BLUEBERRIES NOW!!! Scary about your babygate. Danny must be strong!

I'm beyond relieved to hear that you have no immediate plans for "peacemaker";) weaning. Hannah is quite attached to hers for sleep, but I think Mommy might be even more attached!:D I'm curious to see if her dr. will say anything about it at her upcoming appt. I'm certainly not going to bring it up!

[LA98]

Laura, I've hired a babysitter exactly one time and that was before Jason was born. I tried most of this summer to find one without luck -- I had three doctor appointments that I'd been putting off forever but badly needed to get to and finally ended up taking both kids with me to all three. Which was as much fun as it sounds like in those teeny-tiny examining rooms (Nurse: Hmm, your blood pressure is a little high. Me: Ya think??? :rolleyes: ) Anyway, my parents being able to babysit is a rare occurrence so DH and I were really thrilled that it worked out for our anniversary...

As for the ravenous hunger: I saw your post earlier and wanted to reply that yes, Jason is exactly the same way. Sometimes he gets so hysterical that he doesn't notice that I've actually put the food on his tray. :rolleyes: But I didn't get a chance to post because we ran out to the bank, and here's what happened there: We were on line, and he started getting whiny and fussy. I asked him what was wrong and he signed hungry. Well yay for communication, but uh-oh because I had drinks in my bag but no snack. He quickly got *really* upset, shrieking, and pawing and pulling at the diaper bag. I got the deposit done and actually had to go next door to a little cafeteria (bank's inside a hospital) and buy him one of those little plastic cups of cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch was the best I could do) which he proceeded to *scarf down* like I've never seen before. And all this took place less than an hour after the child ate lunch! Un-be-liev-able.

Leah, believe it or not, I had to Google Red Vine. I don't think I've ever seen them before, are they good? I'm a Twizzlers girl -- DH and I went to Hershey, PA once and bought a very large container of Twizzlers (I want to say 10 pounds?) and killed it that weekend. :D

Sorry that Danny's still adjusting to the new room. He sounds just like Brian at his daycare. Good that he's bonded with a teacher but I know how hard it is when they get shuffled around. Used to make me so mad, especially when it was one of Brian's (or my) favorites. And we had very difficult dropoffs too. Ugh. Hugs to both of you and hope it improves really soon.

Oh, and I'm not taking away the pacifier *anytime* soon, but I do have something to work on. It's my fault, I broke my own rule about using them just at naps and bedtime. It started a couple of months ago when his tantrums were just constant and so crazy, it was the only way I could calm him down. BIG mistake! He's now, um, quite addicted. :o So I've got to work on getting it back to being just a sleep thing. Which is not going to be pretty.

Okay, Leah, you twisted my arm. :p Here's one of Jason from yesterday, we were at a children's museum.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d603b3127ccec4b81e8f1f9e00000040O08QctGbVu1bA9 vPgA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D480/ry%3D320/

[LHBryan]

Thought I'd bump us back up before August is over.

Lori--Jason is SO grown up!! He's 100% little boy now. I still like to think of Hannah as semi-baby.:) Thanks for your feedback about impatience/hunger and pacifier use. Good to hear Hannah isn't the only hysterical one. She's constantly getting into the snack/cereal cabinet and pulling out her animal crackers and goldfish to try to help herself. One day we watched from afar just to see what she'd do. She took the goldfish crackers into our bedroom, turned up the volume on the TV, and plopped down on the floor to watch an Olympic volleyball game while stuffing her mouth full of goldfish. Pure instinct--she's never seen us eat in front of the tv. Oh, as for your pacifier issue, I've come close to being in the same boat! If I forget to put Hannah's on a high shelf beside the crib, she'll reach through the crib slats to retrieve it during the day and then it's impossible to get it back.

Leah--Is Danny doing better with the Turtles? I'm so sorry to read the other thread about your SIL and MIL. What a tough year it's been. Your family remains in my thoughts!

Hannah has been sick with a fever the past couple of days. It also looks like several more teeth are coming in at once. I'm getting ready to run an errand near her daycare and am going to drop by to see if I can have a quick chat with the director. (H isn't there today.) The past several times Hannah has been to daycare she's had a really dirty diaper and very red butt when we get home. I should probably check her before leaving daycare, but she's usually on the playground outside and we just pick up her things, buckle up, and go. I'm not sure when she poops--perhaps it's in the car, but given the redness of her butt, and the screaming agony when I use a wipe on her, I think she's been sitting in it for a while. It's just a tough situation b/c her teachers are great about changing her, but they leave sometime around 4ish. After that, she gets grouped with some of the other classes and teachers who may not know her as well, and most of the kids who are there after 4:30 spend the rest of the day on the playground. I pick H up at 5:15. Her teachers last changed her at ~3:30, which is fine, but I guess my child has started pooping in the late afternoon and it doesn't occur to anyone to check her b/c she's had her last diaper change of the day. I really hate that my child is sitting in the warm sun in her own poop. Yeah, there are times when we don't notice right away either, but several times in a row is a red flag for me. On Wednesday I got her home, dealt with a very messy, a very irritated butt, and a fever of 102.8. She was really hot to the touch. No one noticed.:( Otherwise, we're doing well here!

Hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend!