March 2009 - Preschoolers (3-4yo)

[Couperine]

Hi all! I know we've be spotty keeping in touch about our preschoolers, but I have a question to ask! :)

Me: Nancy 35
DH: 37
DS1: Ethan 3, 4 in late April
DS2: David, 10.5 months
DS3: edd 6/13

Ethan is in love with his Montessori school; he is sad on weekends when he doesn't get to go, and he bounces all the way to school. He's working on writing control instead of scribbles, and his latest neat thing to watch is spatial games. He keeps finding objects and showing us what letters, shapes, and objects they make i.e. opening a board book and showing us a letter K. He's really into making beaded bracelets in class right now - perfect for a 10mo baby. :rolleyes:

I need to get a booster seat in the car for Ethan; he's ready by weight and height, just not age. There are two types, backless and not, and there's just a huge selection. If you have any experiences to share, I'd love to know!

I'm also looking for party ideas - he really wants to go to Chuck E Cheese (stupid PBS sponsorships), and our local one is an absolute pig sty. I have a pretty good idea that I'll be on bedrest by his birthday, so I have to plan it well in advance.

I hope everyone else is doing well - we're in a pretty good groove with Ethan at present, and it's a joy to be his mom.

[gertdog]

Me: Stephanie, 37
DH: Jason, 36
DS1: Ryan, 3
DS2: Aiden, 3 weeks!


I'm also looking for party ideas - he really wants to go to Chuck E Cheese (stupid PBS sponsorships), and our local one is an absolute pig sty.

Hahaha! Ryan is totally enamored of Chuck E. Cheese too, and he's only ever heard of it b/c he occasionally watches Curious George. I don't know who they think they're kidding by saying those aren't ads! Has Ethan ever been? In other words, would he know what he was missing if you held a pizza party elsewhere?

Re: boosters- when Ryan hit the 40lb. limit on his carseat, we ended up with a Graco Nautilus, which has a higher weight limit and converts to a booster w/ back and a backless booster. I liked it b/c he can use the 5-pt. harness to 65 lbs.

We're doing pretty well here. Ryan is struggling a bit with his new big brother role. He is totally enthusiastic about Aiden- sometimes overly so physically. I am glad he has the routine of preschool 4 mornings a week, and we're trying hard to keep his home routines as normal as usual.

Out of the blue, Ryan decided to start writing a few weeks ago! He sits down at his little table and fills page after page with letters. Sometimes he asks us to spell things, and other times he just makes up words and tells us what they're supposed to say. He gets frustrated when his letters/pictures don't look the way he thinks they should- I am having trouble figuring out how to respond to that- we certainly haven't put any pressure on him to start reading or writing, and I know they are not doing any writing at school yet, so this is just Ryan trying to live up to his own standards!

[LaraW]

Hi Everyone

Nancy, we have 2 boosters for DD, which we have had since shortly before she turned 4

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=/qid=/ref=br_1_7/183-8117025-9685141?ie=UTF8&node=3579951&frombrowse=1&asin=B0015ZSMP4&rh=&page=1

(you probably won't want the pink. I didn't either but caved :o )

and this one:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Fpo9UFPxL._AA260_.jpg

We have been very happy with both. The 2nd one folds up (the back folds down) which has made it very easy to travel on an airplane with.

Stephanie, glad to hear you are settling in at home with Aiden. It is an adjustment for sure :)

So I have a potty training question. Shortly after his birthday in mid-January, Colin declared that he was done with diapers. Fine. We've been in underwear for a little over a month, maybe 5 weeks. He was doing very well at first, but this last week to 10 days, maybe a little longer, he has been having tons of accidents. And not just the pee kind that are easy to clean up. (sorry if TMI). I'm not sure what to do. He knows what to do, just isn't doing it. I tried to put a diaper on him at naptime the other day, to find him sleeping on the floor of his room naked from the waist down.

I'm trying not to make a big deal out of it, and to just remind him that he needs to get on the potty when he needs to go. But, he just kind of says "yea" and then has another accident 2 hours later.

Any suggestions on how to handle? I will be home with him tomorrow and had thought about just taking his pants/underwear off and having him go naked, but that is the only idea I have.

[Couperine]

Quick reply for now, but thanks for the input (have more to say about the joy of big brotherhood later). :)

DH and I read the potty training issue together, and we both agree that you probably should reset back to the timer. He's committed to no diapers, hence the naked bum, so DH suggests the 30 minute timer to bring some positive reinforcement back into the equation. They all regress some as the process moves on, and he's likely just in need of your external will to help him get into the groove again.

Have a good evening!

[MinEaston]

Hi everyone! We're doing well over here for the most part. Anna turned 4 (YIKES) last week and since the actual date fell mid-week, she enjoyed an extended birthday celebration over the whole week with various people.

Sorry I can't weigh in on the booster issue. Anna's still a peanut and we have her in a Graco that converts from 5-pt harness to belt-positioning booster. Since she still fits in the 5-pt harness, I'm keeping her in that.

Steph, sounds like things are going well with Aiden & Ryan, which encourages me (see more info below)...

Our biggest struggle right now is getting her to pay attention and listen to us. We have to tell her 2, 3, or more times to get her to wash hands, get in the bathtub, etc, etc. She acknowledges the requests, but just doesn't act. We've been implementing some kind of 'consequence' after the third time (this morning, we took away the picture album she was thumbing through while we were trying to get ready to leave). Any other ideas?

We had a nice snowstorm Sunday-Monday and Anna loved playing in the snow. We don't have any decent hills in our area, but she had a perfectly riotous time just sliding down the piles of snow DH made when he shoveled out the cars. Sadly, it was too cold to get decent snowman-making snow.
Here's our "Queen of the Snow Hill"
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff86/sailinggal71/PICT0002_email.jpg

As you may have noticed if you lurk on the PG thread, we're expecting #2 in September. Somewhat of a surprise, but we'd left the final decision on #2 or not to a higher power than us. I still go between really excited to really petrified.

And as if we didn't have enough going on in our lives already, I'm contemplating a job change - I've been with this company for more than 12 years, but I'm interviewing at a local health care system on Thursday for two different positions (one I've known about, another was a result of my online application). Of course, I had to run out and buy some "fat pants," as I call them, just to be able to interview in a suit! DH claims that no one will be able to tell I'm PG. Let's hope, I don't want to deal with that issue until I have to.

[mst]

Hi everyone-

I am home with two sick kids today. But, it has actually been a really nice day.

Ilyssa is so funny- the other day, we were playing restaurant (she handed me a book as a menu), and after I ordered, she nodded towards DD2, and said, "anything for the little one?" I nearly fell over, I thought she was so funny.

And, the other night, she had a nightmare. I went running into her room. She was thrashing in bed screaming, "no! I don't like that kind of Macaroni and cheese!" Good to know that is my child's biggest fear. The wrong kind of Macaroni and Cheese (if you are interested, the right kind is the frozen stuff from Trader Joe's- it is amazing. I haven't looked at the fat content- we don't want to know!)

Sorry no personals- Shayna is getting cranky...

[LA98]

Ilyssa is so funny- the other day, we were playing restaurant (she handed me a book as a menu), and after I ordered, she nodded towards DD2, and said, "anything for the little one?"

And, the other night, she had a nightmare. I went running into her room. She was thrashing in bed screaming, "no! I don't like that kind of Macaroni and cheese!"

Delurking... mst, LOL, these are easily the funniest kid stories I've heard in a while!!