August Older Toddler/Pre-Schoolers

[LaraW]

OK, I'll start the new thread for this month. Though I named it Older Toddlers/Pre-Schoolers this time, just so if anyone out there wants to join us, they can.

So, I start my new job tomorrow. Colin moved up to the next room at school yesterday and we bought underwear for him over the weekend. We gave it a try today, had 4 accidents and 1 success in teh potty. He seems to know when he needs to go, but doesn't quite get the "go to the potty when you need to go" thing. We'll get there.

That is about it from here.

[Molli526]

I am going to try to rejoin here.

Henry,2, doesn't have much interest in the potty. He turned 2 at the end of April. He will sit occasionally, but wants to sit for a second then be done. He doesn't *have* to be trained until he starts 3 yo preschool through our school district, so our end goal is to have him trained by Sept. 2009 :p I think he will have more interest later this month when my sister and her boys come up to go on vacation with us. With his big brother and 2 cousins using the potty, I am sure he will be more interested. He knows when he is doing something and will tell us sometimes.

Henry will start preschool Sept. 4. The wonderful lady who runs the school will sometimes take the kids a little younger if she thinks they will do OK. Henry is so ready to be in school like Charlie. It is T&R, and I think he will love it.

Charlie,4, will be in preschool run by the school district M,W,F. He has a couple friends from his class last year in his room this year, so he is excited to see them. He is finishing up a week of day camp tomorrow. It is half day, and he has had a lot of fun. He is also *SO* tired.

[Couperine]

Thanks for starting us this month Lara! I hope your new job is starting out well, and hopefully Colin is getting the hang of PT.

Molli, I am envious of your school district preschool! Hopefully Henry gets more interested in the potty with all the fine examples he'll see on his vacation.

As for us, my husband and I had our annual discussion about MDO and preschool for Ethan. He's 3 and 3 months now, and I'd like to get him more involved on a regular basis with kids, but DH pretty much loathes MDO and our preschool options around here are fullday, 5 days a week. So as usual, I'm at a loss. I registered him for Kindermusik again since that has really helped his ability to follow instructions and learn to sit. They don't start karate until 3.5, but I'm working on finding a playgroup closer to our new house. Our school system has restrictions on enrollment for preschool - children have to be unable to speak English, live below subsistence level, or be a child of an active duty or deceased military parent.

I always get conflicted in the middle of summer though - we are so housebound since it's stupidly hot outside. We swam at community pools last summer, but I'm just not comfortable leaving my baby poolside and Ethan needs quite a bit of parental supervision.

Ah well, once it gets cooler I can get him outside and burn off more of his energy. We're doing well on learning - he knows his upper and lower case letters, 1 through 20 very well (working on the others through 100), colors and shapes are fine, and we're working through Kumon books on cutting, folding, stickers and glue, and also writing ones where he does mazes and lines. He's enjoying tracing letters more - the Kumon books have given a good base to work from. His pronunciations are fairly clear, and I found a good site to help work on his hard sounds - th really gets him, and since it's part of his name, I'd like to get that one clearer first.

Mostly I'm just venting. :) I'll work it out, but when I'm ready to pull my hair out after the millionth game of slapjack or go-fish, just one morning of MDO for the social aspect doesn't sound half bad.

[LaraW]

Nancy, I don't know if I have any ideas for you for pre-school. Do any churches around you have any pre-schools? Those are what we were primarily looking at for Natalie and we found 3 programs we really liked. None of them were the same religion we are, but we didn't really worry about that.

Another idea might be some kind of co-op pre-school you could start with friends who have kids the same age. I don't know - that is a tough situation.

The pool is hard too. We are fortunate to have some parks with "fountains" which shoot out of the ground and the kids can run around in those w/ their swimsuits on. What about sprinklers/wading pool in your yard? You could set up an umbrella with a blanket under it for the baby - I used to do that when Colin was a baby.

It has just been the month of July that I have been comfortable taking the kids (4 1/2 and 2 1/2) swimming by myself - our pool has a "zero entry" which means it starts at 1 inch deep and gets deeper from there, but the main part of the pool where we play is about 3 feet deep at its deepest. There is a little slide in that area, and the kids can go on that independently with me supervising. But, you are probably a ways from that too.

[mst]

Help please! I am booking Ilyssa's birthday party for November. Our town has a great birthday party in town space, but it books super early. Anyway, my options are 12:30-2:30 or 3-5. For those of you whose kids still nap, which is the better option? Right now, I have the 3-5 booked. It is a Sunday.

Nancy- When I had Ilyssa, I joined the local mom's club, and there were so many activities. I also joined a playgroup that we are still part of. I don't know what MDO is, but would your husband be ok with you doing it one morning a week? Just for your sanity? I love my time alone with Shayna.

[Molli526]

Nancy, another option is MOPS. You would get a couple hours to yourself and the boys would get age appropriate care. I have friends involved with MOMS clubs too. We also have a couple of splash pads around here that are great for hot, hot days.

Meredith, the 3-5 would be perfect for my boys, who both still nap.

[Couperine]

Meredith, I'd go for the 3-5 time as well - thanks for the ideas everyone! I just get frustrated each August when our activities have waned in the summer heat.

[lisas3575]

So am I the only dork that completely missed Stephanie's announcement on the pg thread??? Congratulations! So happy for you. :)

Meredith, I agree that 3-5 is best.

[mst]

Lisa, nope, I missed it too! Congrats Stephanie!

Thanks for the feedback for the party. I can't believe I am talking about her third birthday party. My baby is so big!

Yesterday, when I was trying to get her ready for school, she wanted to feed one of her stuffed animals first. She sat in her chair, rearranged her pillows, and lifted her shirt to nurse the baby. Pretty cute.

[lisas3575]

I'm kind of struggling this week again-- Owen is really defiant and aggressive lately (hitting us and the dogs, kicking, throwing things, tipping furniture). If anyone has any suggestions or resources, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

[Couperine]

Lisa, what kind of things are going on in your life that could be causing stress for Owen? They have limited ability to communicate their issues, so it can be hard to figure if they are just testing limits or trying to express something else.

We're having issues here with Ethan; I've noticed that over the past few weeks, his play has gotten really aggressive. He throws his cars, smashes things into the floor, kicks, etc. I've watched it fairly closely the last couple of weeks, and he seems frantic in his play. He constantly asks to go to his grandparents house, and we think all of these things are signs that he is bored and needs more things to do. His life has changed since the baby was born - we did a playgroup or class 3-4 days a week, and over the summer we've not done much since classes stopped and our playgroup defaulted to only going to the pool. Our house will finally be ready in another week and a half, so we have the additional stress of moving for him.

I've spent the week trying to find some things for him to do, and I found a local Montessori school with a 3 day morning program that I'm hoping with satisfy us. We'll visit later in the week to see it in action.

I'm hoping that preschool is the answer - Ethan has also regressed in his potty training; tons of pee accidents, but at this point they are on purposes. We can't get mad, but DH and I know that this is a sign of stress because PT is something that your child can control. I'm hoping we can work through this soon, but it's really annoying when he goes pee at 8pm, 9pm, and then wakes up at 10pm and wets enough of his pj's to make him need new clothes and sheets.

Anyhow Lisa, I empathize.

[aprilbride]

Lisa and Nancy, I can sympathize as well! For us it seems like it was a phase that lasted for about two weeks, brought on by a few different factors. A) His favorite teacher at school was leaving and B) It must have finally sunk in that his baby sister is here to stay. We were dealing with blatant misbehavior, not listening, not being gentle with Mia and the most telltale sign, constant eye blinking related to his stress. It felt like all I was saying was "no, don't do this, don't do that" all day long and it was wearing all of us out. It seemed like he felt misbehavior was the way to get our attention, regardless of what our reaction was. I ended up buying a book called "The Kazdin Method for Parenting your Defiant Child" and got some really good ideas from it. Here's the description from Amazon:"

" The director of the acclaimed Yale Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic distills his thirty years of work with children into a step-by-step method for parents -- with a bound-in DVD featuring effective tips for common problems

A startling percentage of child-behavior books are filled with advice that sounds reasonable, fits in with what parents believe already about child-rearing, and is—as Dr. Kazdin proves—guaranteed to fail. The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child makes available to parents for the first time Dr. Kazdin's proven program—one based on thirty years of work with kids and backed up by the most long-term and respected research devoted to any therapy for children.

Kazdin shatters decades' worth of accumulated myths about tantrums, time-outs, punishments fitting the crime, and much more. Think you know how to use a reward or points chart? How to praise your child? How to punish effectively? Think again.

With the practicality of Ferber and the warmth of Brazelton, Kazdin leads parents through every step of the Kazdin method in action -- how to use tone of voice, when and how to touch, how to lead your child in a "practice" session, how to adjust your approach for different-age children, how to involve nonoffending siblings, and more. The program is temporary, but the results are permanent -- for very young children to adolescents, and even beyond. This is the lifesaving handbook for parents of children who are occasionally, or too often, "out of control." "



Once we started implementing some his suggestions, things seemed to improve. The eye blinking went away, we don't have as many issues with not listening etc. I think by nature he's a strongwilled kid, so trying to channel that into the right direction is our current focus.

Anyway, hope this was a little bit of help. I'd be happy to send you the book if you're interested so you can read through it and take away what might work for you...

[lisas3575]

I'd be happy to send you the book if you're interested so you can read through it and take away what might work for you...

Thanks! Looks like our library has a copy, so I've reserved it. Thank you for the generous offer. I'm hoping it's just a phase, but it's not something we can ignore in case it's not.

I really don't have any idea what's behind his behavior problems-- I'll probably have some 20/20 hindsight when we're done. We've been settled in our new house for a few months now, no new siblings or anything. We're getting ready to switch daycare, and have been mentioning it to him to prepare him for the new school-- that could be it I guess, but it seems like the behavior problems would start after he moves in 2 weeks.

He might be tired, sleep is always an issue with him. I've had to detach from that though, I've tried everything and nothing worked. He goes to daycare 3 days a week and is with my mom one day a week so I don't think he's bored.

Right now, when he hits or kicks, he goes right to time out in his room or standing in the corner. He destroys his room during time out, and refuses to stand in the corner unless we physically hold him there. Fun times. Might need to schedule a meeting with a Love and Logic counselor for some insight.

[aprilbride]

Lisa, how is his behavior at school/your mom's house? Elliott's bad behavior is usually only apparent at home, but during this last episode it also seemed to carry over to school..when asked to do something, he simply refused etc. Anyway, as with almost everything else, it turned out to be a 2 week phase and we're back to "normal", if there is such a thing:-)

I think working with things like this is so "kid specific", different methods for different kids. Good luck!

[gertdog]

Hi all- I'm a bit late joining in this month! Things have been hectic around here. As mentioned earlier, I'm pregnant with baby #2- about 15 weeks along and finally beginning to feel better. :) We haven't yet told Ryan- figured we'd wait til I'm showing- maybe after the 20 week ultrasound when we can show him some pics that actually look like a baby. He's been clamoring for a brother, but lately changed his preference to sister- we think it's a boy, so Ryan'll just have to take what he gets!

Ryan is just chugging along. No progress with potty training- so little interest on his part, that I'm just not going to let myself worry about it right now. But his imagination is just soaring- we could fill every day with all the pretend picnics and plane trips and other scenarios he comes up with. He's also totally enamored of art right now- safety scissors, glue sticks, whatever. One day a few weeks ago when I was feeling really sick, I gave him a glue stick, construction paper, and a whole bunch of bird pictures I'd cut from last year's Audubon wall calendar, and he spent an entire hour making bird collages. Then he taped them to our front window, facing out, so the real birds could see them. :) I started a "craft box" in the basement- fabric scraps, stickers, pictures, yarn, ribbon, odds and ends of wrapping paper, paper towel tubes- I'm finding it very handy on days when I need an activity for him! He is very eager to take more swim lessons, which we're signed up for starting in September. And we're off on vacation next week- meeting my family in Sedona AZ for a week. He's been a very noisy kid lately so I hope he is reasonably good on the plane.

Lara, how is the new job going?

Lisa and Nancy, I'm sure the physical stuff with Owen and Ethan is just a phase but I know how frustrating it can be! We also seem to experience it with Ryan on occasion, and for him it comes and goes. I don't know how helpful this is, and I've probably mentioned it before- but I remember learning in grad school that there are two "peaks" of aggressive behavior in childhood. One is, predictably, in adolescence when the hormones kick in. The other is in preschool, and it's actually a bigger peak than the one for adolescence. Like Nancy said, the limited self-expression skills contribute a lot to the problem- communicating things like stress, worry, frustration etc. are challenging at this age. The other thing is that kids this age are working hard to figure out the limits in their worlds. I think most kids actually like limits and feel more secure when limits are clear, so I just try to be consistent and clear with Ryan about what's not acceptable re: behavior and remind myself that it's normal for him to act out sometimes. Normal, but frustrating of course!

[LaraW]

Lisa - I definitely know where you are coming from. Colin is much more laid back with regard to tantrums, etc than Natalie was, but we have seen some "two year old" moments.

About the only thing we have found to be effective with regard to stopping behavior was a zero-tolerance, send to room thing. Colin will sit in timeout but Natalie never would, and she'd get out of the chair and start back in on the thing she was in timeout for in the first place.

One of the suggestions from the L&L class we took last spring was the sending to the room, with the same phrase - "Uh-oh, I think you need some room time. So sad. Come back when you're ready to be nice". This has worked for us. I bet Owen is old enough to understand - Colin gets this sentence for him as well. They are sent to their room until they settle down, etc and then they get their timeout - we call it recovery time. Natalie gets 4 1/2 min, Colin gets 2 1/2. You could say "uh-oh, we don't hit. Why don't you go to your room and let us know when you're ready to be nice to us (the dogs, toys, etc)." I have done the holding in timeout and will say that I didn't find it to be effective at all.

Just a thought - it has been about the one thing that has worked in our house.

The new job is going well - I'm working 2 days/week and so have only been there 2 days.

I don't think we have had too much more going on. DH has been really busy at work so he has been working a lot of long hours.

[gertdog]

Lara, glad things are going well so far!


One of the suggestions from the L&L class we took last spring was the sending to the room, with the same phrase - "Uh-oh, I think you need some room time. So sad. Come back when you're ready to be nice".

We do this with Ryan except we call it "recovery time" and we explain it in a very pleasant singsong-y voice. After we instituted this, he started coming up to me when we got home from daycare, hitting me lightly, and saying "Mommy, I think I need some recovery time." What he wanted was to spend some time with his lovey (blankie) in his room. Once I figured out what he was doing, I explained that he can spend time in his room whenever he wants- he just has to ask, not hit! Obviously we mixed some messages there. :o

[RebeccaT]

I had a huge long reply written and the BB ate it. :(

Anyway, congrats Stephanie! Hooray, I am so excited for you!

I also can comiserate with you, Lisa, and all the others dealing with behavior and attitude issues. We are dealing with that in spades here. Not so much aggressive (probably a gender/personality thing) but lots more passive, dig-her-heels in refusal to cooperate and defiance and whiny, complaining, can't-be-pleased behavior. It's the pits. I say, "julia, come quickly, we need to get in the car," and she walks MORE slowly. I say, "Julia, it's time to pick up your toys, it's bedtime," and she says flat-out, "No, I don't want to." I say, "then you don't get a sticker on your sticker chart," and she says "Then I don't want a sticker." I don't know what to do with this! Where is my eager-to-please child???

We did have a great vacation, though, in Telluride. It was great to get away from the heat so that the kdis could actually play outside, to have a change of scenery (and what scenery!) and have Grandpa there to help with the kids so that DH and I could get in a few hikes and even a date. The kids had fun, too, though Julia was difficult there as well. At least DH and my dad helped to diffuse things a little. Here's a picture (complete with frowning Julia, who didn't feel like having her pic taken that day... what's up with the 3-foot-tall teenager I have in my house?):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d632b3127ccec48ee77b1f9a00000040O08AYt2TNk4YtA e3nwA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D480/ry%3D320/

and here's one of her actually smiling (sort-of):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d630b3127ccec4829152afd300000010O08AYt2TNk4YtA e3nwA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D480/ry%3D320/

[MinEaston]

Hi everyone... I will try and get to personals later but I wanted to check in.

On the day Lara started this thread, my father had an abnormal brain CT scan. Yesterday, he underwent brain surgery to remove what they now know is a malignant tumor (same as Ted Kennedy, I think). We've had a whirlwind trip through the medical system, and it's frightening to imagine what folks who don't have the connections we do have to go through to get to this point (my brother is a doc, I monitor health care quality...).

It's been barely 24 hours since surgery ended and he has been moved to a regular neuro unit, not an ICU, which is great. He even took a short walk today, my mother reported (I came home mid-day today, he's at the Univ of MD hospital in downtown Baltimore). His neuro signs are excellent and we are encouraged by his progress so far. There are plenty more hurdles to cross.

So far Anna (3.5) only knows that he isn't feeling well and had to go to the doctor. We will take one day at a time with her.

If anyone has extra thoughts or prayers, could you send some our way :o?

Thanks!

[mst]

(((Mineaston))). All my prayers are going straight to you and your family. Hang in there.

[ellery]

delurking...

M - my thoughts are with you and your family. Sending some prayers up that your father continues to improve. ((()))

[MinEaston]

Thanks everyone. A brief update - my dad's being discharged today, will spend tonight at my brother's, then head home tomorrow. He's bounced back from surgery really well; they allow him about 4 weeks recovery, then he's in for a 6-week round of highly targeted radiation, and chemotherapy. One step at a time...

[lisas3575]

(((((((MinEaston)))))) Good thoughts headed your dad's way for a speedy and full recovery. How stressful and scary for you all. :( Hang in there and keep us updated.

Rebecca, how is your mom doing?

[buffygirl]

(((Min)))

Quick check in...Rex turned 3 this month! We are (amazingly) going through a fairly easy phase with him right now (versus the spinning head evil Spring we suffered through:p). He is going through a helper/charmer stage which you gotta love.

He transitioned to Pre-K3 this week so that has been a bit of an adjustment, but already I can tell he is more engaged in what is going on in the classroom and I'm thrilled. I was starting to doubt our "private school" program at the end of the 2 year old class, but I'm seeing vast improvement since the transition. He's wearing a uniform to school now too!:o

All is well here. I found out today I just won a large job I've been working on for the last year, the first job I worked on in my new business development role. That was a great win!

G is doing fine although we are still going through medical stuff with his heart. We thought we were all done, but just not yet. He is frustrated and I'm worried. We just need to make the next step and he is almost refusing, anyway, any good thoughts you could send my way on that front would be good.

It's great to hear how all the kiddos are doing. I sympathize with those who are "suffering". Hugs all around.

Congrats, Stephanie!

Kim

[RebeccaT]

((((Meredith)))) I can totally relate to what you and your family are going through, at least the stress of diagnosis and all the roller-coaster that goes along with it. I will keep you in my thoughts. That's awesome that he responded so well to chemo!

Lisa, thanks for asking about my mom. She's hanging in there; she has 3 more radiation treatments to go, then back to chemo. Ugh. I am worried about the chemo because it so racked her body last time, and really messed with her liver. Hopefully it will be better this time around.

I just want to give a great big shout HOORAY for preschool! Julia's second day is today, and I am a MUCH better mom when she's not pushing all my buttons all day every day! I feel a little guilty, but there it is!

[lisas3575]

Kim, I am so sorry to read that Greg is still having issues with his heart. That's frustrating when you thought you were through with all of that. :( Please keep us posted. And thanks for the ray of hope that the head spinning evil phase shall pass. ;)

Today was Owen's first day at his new daycare (thanks again for helping me work through all of that last month!), and while he was typically bashful in an unfamiliar situation, he told me he was ready for me to go to work and there were zero tears when I left! Amazing. When we picked him up at the bigger center for his last day on Friday, none of his stuff was ready to go (I never did get his diapers/pull ups or sunscreen so I have to go back for them) and it was deafening chaos. I think we've made a good move. Whew.

I've been working on Owen's room the last few weeks. I'm painting a camping mural on one wall, and DH built a bookcase shaped like a canoe. I scored a bunch of neat accessories at Target, including a hanging lamp that looks like a camping lantern and a canvas tent that goes on the bed.
http://www.wallnutz.com/images/wilderness1LG.jpg

[mst]

Hi everyone.

Caillou is on, and Shayna is fed. Hopefully I can actually write a post!

Anyway, Mineaston, still thinking of you, keep us informed.

Rebecca- your kids look adorable. I can't believe how big they both are. Is it wrong that I get sad when I see pictures of how big everyone's kids have gotten?

Kim- my thoughts are with you guys too. How tough that Greg is still having issues. Glad that Rex is being easier- it sometimes feels like those difficult stages last forever, huh? One of the reasons that I love this thread is "seeing" other kids have the cycles too. It helps me to know that it is what happens to all kids this age, and that in a few months, things will get better.

Lisa- I love the new room idea. Please post pictures- I don't have a creative one in my body, so I love to see what other people do!

Steph- is the "thinking we have a boy" a feeling, or from an u/s. I was absolutely positive both times that I was having a boy. With Shayna, she had a kidney issue in uteruo that is five times more likely with boys. We were shocked when she was a girl. Shocked silent! I think the great thing about a second child is that either gender is wonderful. If it is the same gender, it is a brothers/sisters. If it is the opposite gender, you have one of each.

So...I am a bit afraid to post this, but I think Ilyssa is mostly potty trained. We did potty training boot camp, and it worked great. But, I was wondering what you guys doing during "rest" time. (Napping is long gone for us...) Do you put your kids back in diapers? She still definitely needs diapers at night. We call those "just in case" diapers.

[Couperine]

In the middle of packing to move - finally - so quick post on PT and diapers during rest. We went cold turkey - it went surprisingly well. I keep 2-3 sets of waterproof mattress covers with a sheet on the bed for quick changes - we rarely need it now.

Off to pack more!

[MinEaston]

Another quick post...

Dad's recovering OK, but is pretty apathetic overall, to be expected when they mess around with your right frontal lobe! I relieved my mother for about an hour Sunday and it was awful - I couldn't get Dad to do anything. We had a scare with a fever but that seems to have resolved.

Today he & my mother came over to our house (my mother was suffering from serious Anna withdrawal) and he was pretty good. Certainly ambulatory, and while he may have read the same newspaper article over & over, he was at least responsive. And the way his face lit up when he saw Anna - I could have cried on the spot. She didn't seem to notice anything was amiss. Especially since he wore a hat to cover the impressive "train tracks" on his head. It seems like when he's rested enough he's in good shape. He'd stay in bed all day if we let him, which will do him no good with regards to his leg muscles. TG he was in incredible physical shape before this. This Thursday they meet with all the radiation oncologists, etc, to determine next steps with regards to treatment.

If Ted Kennedy could make it to the Democratic Convention, my father will pull through this too!

I feel like a total heel to you guys, but right now I am so focused on what's going on with my little corner of the world I don't want to cheat anyone out of a response. I promise I'll try and be better! I have been lurking plenty and enjoying everyone's stories.

[mst]

Min- glad to hear your dad is doing well, even though it must hurt your heart. How wonderful that his love for Anna is something that his mind was able to hold onto. As for being in your corner in the world- don't think twice. Through the years, I think we have all leaned on each other in hard times. Whether it is something minor like kid tantrums, or major like brain surgery, we are all here to listen and support each other. I know that I always feel like I could never give as much as I have received from this board.

[gertdog]

Hi all- it's been quite the week here. We had a fabulous vacation in Sedona- what a beautiful place- and I loved letting Ryan run someone else ragged for a change. My mom came prepared with a giant bin filled with art supplies, a huge pile of books, a flannel board, and other exciting stuff (she's a retired speech pathologist who spent many years working with preschoolers, so she had all this stuff already). Ryan was in heaven and some days didn't want to go outside! But outside was good too- we took a few nice short hikes, visited a swimming hole, and saw plenty of cactus. Ryan told everyone who would listen "We don't touch the cactus in Arizona!" We also saw a huge tarantula on one hike, and lots of lizards- little boy heaven.

So I'd planned to tell my boss about my pregnancy this week, but before I had a chance, he told me he's decided to shut down the company as of the end of the year. Yikes! I'd previously told him I was planning to move on sometime next year, but wanted to wrap up our current projects for our clients- was hoping to work half-time in 2009. I guess it makes more business sense to wrap up everything at once, which is fair enough (the company is only a sideline for my boss- he runs it in addition to his regular full-time job). So, as of January, I'll be jobless, and don't really feel like I can look for anything new til after the baby arrives. My main concern is keeping Ryan in daycare a day or two per week- not sure what we can afford yet, but he loves going to school and I really want that continuity for him when the baby comes. We'll figure something out. It will be an adventure for sure.

MinEaston- I'm so glad your dad seems to be doing well, and that Anna can be such a source of happiness to him during a difficult time.

Congrats to the newly potty trained Ilyssa and Ethan!

Lisa, is that image of the mural you're painting? It's fantastic!! Glad the daycare change decision was one you're feeling good about.

Rebecca, hooray for preschool indeed! And glad to hear that your mom is managing okay. How much time is there between radiation treatments?

Kim, many good thoughts for Greg's health. Congrats on the job win!

Meredith- the ultrasound tech at our 12-week nuchal screen said boy, but my OB says no way could the tech really tell. But DH and I saw what the tech was identifying as boy parts and I'd be inclined to agree with her... we'll see!

[buffygirl]

Quick fly by...

Lisa, you are so talented, very cool mural!!!

Sephanie, love your blog! I can't wait to start harvesting (fingers crossed) my fall garden! I miss the boat every year on a CSA share so I've finally planted my own.

Does anyone here do scrapbooks??? I started right before Rex was born, completed 2 pages, then have not had time to pick it back up. Since my job is no longer artistically creative, I'm thinking this would be a good outlet, but I really have nearly no experience and no idea where to start....any thoughts?

Meredith, on naps when we were PT, we put Rex in pullups for about a month until he really demonstrated some bladder control, then undies were fine. He ended up night training himself and just told us he didn't want to sleep in pullups anymore, that he could hold his potty.:o

kim

[lisas3575]

LOL, Kim-- that photo is the inspiration, my mural doesn't look quite that good. :o I'm a little over half way done, and probably have another 6-7 hours to go. I have the bears, moose, water, reflections and boat interior left to do. I'll post a photo when I'm done, but it will be a while.

MinEaston and Kim-- any updates on your loved ones? Good thoughts still heading your guys' way.

I wanted to pop by with a tip of sorts for entertaining toddlers, depending on your tolerance level. DH got something shipped to him last week, and Owen has been obsessed with the bubble wrap! He's been taking it in the car, and it keeps him occupied forever. :p I'm sure it's probably annoying to most people, but I much prefer it to whining or crying, LOL.

[mst]

Lisa- my DH had some bubble wrap today, and I did not let him throw it out! Funny though, she kept having Shayna (four months) try to pop the bubbles. She would pop them and pretend Shayna did. It was cute.

[MinEaston]

MinEaston and Kim-- any updates on your loved ones? Good thoughts still heading your guys' way.

thanks for the thoughts, we certainly still need them. Apparently the bit of tumor that was not removed during surgery (they didn't want to mess with the left side of the brain) has grown since then, which has impeded some of Dad's recovery. He starts gamma radiation on Monday - a few days ahead of the regular regimen - for that. We continue to try and stay positive but between the slow recovery from the original surgery and setbacks like this, it's difficult.

I'm off work today and am spending the day preparing boats for the impending arrival of TS Hanna!