Toddler/Preschool Moms Week of 2/6

[hrk]

I thought I would start this weeks thread, hopefully before someone is posting at the same time

Kim- Are you back yet? How did things go? I hope being with your family provided a source of comfort. How did Lainey and Jamie do on the car ride?

Lori- Glad to hear all went weel with the surgery. Sorry to hear you were laid off though. I hope you are able to find another position quickly.

Lara- Congrats on surviving your first week with the two kids. HOw are you doing? I know you had mentioned something in the past about PPD, are you doing well? As for the potty training, I can't help with the timed thing, cause we never did a timer. The first day we started, when Logan woke up, we put him on the potty first thing, then kept him in underware and styed within a few feet of the bathroom most of the day. We just kept reminding him if he felt "pee coming" he needed to tell us. He had about 5-6 accidents by noon and after that he pretty much got it. To this day he still says "pee coming" when he needs to use the potty.

Helene- What craft did Victor and DH make at Home Depot? I thought about sending Logan and DH but DH was all worked out I think by the time he finished the storage furniture I had him build

Well Saturday was rainy and cold so we spent most of it inside. Like I said DH finished the storage furniture he made for our basement, which made me very happy. One of these days I will have to break out the camera and take pictures of his work. It really is impressive.
Sunday we had our Super Bowl party. Our party includes our friends and all the kids, so we had about 25 people including Paula and her kids (Paula we found Rachels headband ;) ) and we had about 8 kids in the basement from 9 yo-2 1/2 yo with only one pair of stepped on fingers, so things went very well. It was a blast, but at 34 weeks pregnant it was exhausting, so that was it for us until the baby is born now.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend.
Heather

[Sarah428]

Heather - I don't know how you threw such a party at 34 weeks, kudos! But I guess w/ that many kids & people they pretty much entertain themselves. I'd love to see some pics of you DH's work.

Lori - Sorry to hear about the layoff, I hope now that you know the outcome you can start down a path to make some decisions.

We had a qiuet weekend, painted the baby's room and got some scrapbooking done. Ella was going to go to SIL for the weekend but they rescheduled for this weekend which works out better for us anyway. She did really good potty training. She's loving her "princess" pull-ups and not wanting to wear real underwear but she's not going potty in the pull-ups so I'm not fighting it.

We did have some troubling news over the weekend. My dad has fought w/ depression his entire life and has attempted suicide three times that I remember. Friday my mom called to say that he admitted himself to the inpatient psychiatry hospital. I saw some signs recently and was a little concerned but I didn't mention anything to anyone. I realize this is a good sign that he's gotten help before it's too late but I'm still just....well, sad about it. Like my mom said "I could have been making a much worse phone call to you" and I know she's right. I'm going to try to get up there this week to visit but hours are from 7pm-8pm and not sure I can make it on time. I might try to call but my dad isn't a phone chatter but I don't want him to think I don't care or that he's not in my thoughts.

Thanks for listening....better get to the monday morning paperwork.

Sarah

[cchhbb]

Hi everyone,

I posted twice last week and the gremlins must have ate my post.

Griffin has been sick for nearly 3 weeks with a really runny bm. I took him to the ped who put him on culturelle which is a good bacteria. That seems to be helping him. He did gain 12 ounces in 6 weeks so she was pleased, especially since he was sick.

We got the results of Garrett's testing and he qualifies for 2 45 minutes sessions a week. We had our first one today and it went great. One session is with a speech person and the other with a special needs preschool teacher. Garrett had a ball with her and she was surprised at how well he did. She had never met him before, but had read his test results and was surprised at how high his skills were. Much better than what the testing reflected. I really thought the testing did not accurately reflect his abilities. Essentially, if he wouldn't do something on demand then he didn't get credit for it.

Kim, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Lori, I'm sorry you were laid off. I know it is really stressful.

Sara, Thank goodness your dad has gotten the help he needs. It sounds like potty training is going well.

I need to run. Sounds like a crash just happened in Garrett's room.

Cheryl

[JoanneOR]

Heather, the party sounds like it was alot of fun, but alot of work! Hope you can relax a bit now!

Lori, I can't remember if I replied on the last thread, but I'm sorry to hear about your job. I hope you can find something soon. The bright side is you'll be able to spend more time with Brian at home for awhile. But I know how stressful it must be. If either DH or I lost a job we'd be in serious trouble. Glad to hear the surgery went well.

Sarah, as long as Ella is still using the potty and wearing pull-ups I wouldn't fight it either! It could get expensive, though. Maybe if you found some princess underwear she'd like those? I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. That's good that he recognized he needed help, though. But I'm sure that doesn't make dealing with the situation too much easier. My dad was in the hospital last year and he hates the phone, too, so I know what you mean. I did make it to visit him a few times and he really appreciated it.

Cheryl, glad all Garrett's testing is done and you have a therapy schedule. So, what are they working on with him? My nephew had speech therapy and it was mostly to have him work on having conversations, making eye contact, that kind of thing.

Well, we got the basement walls primed. Well, most of it anyway. There's one part DH still needs to put the drywall on and we ran out of primer to finish the rest of the hallway. But even with just the primer, it looks much better. We decided to go with the blue color and the top of one wall will be an off-white. I had forgotten how tiring painting can be! Although it wasn't too bad since there isn't any trim to worry about. If I have the energy, I may do the blue tonight.

We went to my SILs for the Super Bowl. My niece was there who is about a year older than Caitlyn. Caitlyn just loves her. They are so cute together. We don't live that far, but we don't get together that often just because everyone is so busy.

[RunnerKim]

Lori - I haven't read the end of last week's thread yet, but I gather you've been told you're one of the laid off people. :( DH was laid off for an extended period and I know it can be very stressful. When it was all said and done we could be happy about how things turned out and that DH had that time at home etc. but it sure was tough (and not just financially) while it was happening. Hang in there.

Heather - your party does sound like it went really well. What fun.

Cheryl - glad Garrett is off to great start with his therapy sessions. OUch on Griffin's bum - it has to be pretty sore after that much diahhrea. Poor kid.

Sarah, i'm sorry to hear about your dad. Maybe sending him a card each day would be good for him? He'd certainly know you're thinking of him without having to "chat." Maybe include a picture on occaison too.

Our trip was mostly good. The travel was okay. Lainey does not sleep in the car. We left Portland at 3:45am with the idea the kids would then sleep for the first part of the trip. Lainey did eventually fall asleep but only for 30 minutes. Argh. Jamie slept well though and that did help. Lainey watched one movie and then was done with that and b/c it was still dark there wasn't that much she could do. It really wasn't that bad though (we did have to pull over on an access road at one point and let her pee on the side of the road in the pouring rain (under the tailgate fortunately) b/c nothing was open that early and it was too far to the next rest stop.

The trip home was much more difficult. Lainey didn't sleep a wink. We left around 7:30 so after she naturally woke up but she didn't even go to sleep after lunch which would be her normal nap time. Instead she had melt down after melt down. Stickers provided some relief and I ended up finding that Thomas magnetic book that Susan mentioned during our visit (but she'd lose the magnets into her car seat and get rather upset about not finding Thomas or whoever). Jamie would look up over his car seat at me (he's behind DH's seat) and wail and then I'd give him a new toy, he'd play with it for a few minutes, throw it over the side and look at me and wail (repeat a million times). I fed him bits of banana while he was strapped in too.

The roads were all okay until we headed up to my parents place. They live on a side of a mountain (literally) and there's over 1000 feet of elevation gain within a couple of miles. So there was snow on the roads (gravel) for that part. We were following my Mom up (coincidently met up with her at my grandparents' house, in town) and she said she kept it in 2WD so she'd know what it was like for us but alas we still managed to lose traction on a turn and go off the road in to the snow bank and hit a tree. Just the driver's side rear-view mirror though. My Mom carted me and the kids the rest of the way (of course it wasn't much further at that point) and we sent my Dad back with the pickup to pull him out. Lainey is still asking why DH ran in to a tree. They put the chains on after that. My sister (in her Nissan car) went off the road the next day up by the house). We noticed upon looking at my moms car that she might have not put it in to 4wd but she has studded tires on. Hopefully it won't cost too much to replace the mirror (it's heated/motorized so probably won't be cheap) but not a scratch on the car itself. DH has panic issues with the snow and ice though and this didn't really help him. He flipped his car about 8 years ago on an icy road situation and ever since then has had issues (he's rather stubborn about it and wants to work through them but I have to admit his reaction has done some damage to my confidence too - although I try very hard to appear calm). I should do some research and see if there's a car driving "school" for winter conditions. Not sure if that would really help his issue though (I think it's more of a true panic attack vs. just a lack of knowledge or even confidence).

Anyway, more than you wanted to know. One proud moment I had. ;) Lainey was throwing away a tissue at my grandmother's house and DH showed her the trash bag under the sink and she looks at it and says "but there's recyling in there."

The memorial service was beautiful. Very small church (I'm used to DH's big Catholic church in a city etc.). My grandfather was a minister and one of his son's 2nd career is as a minister so he did the service which made it very personal and meaningful. I have a cousin who is a professional opera singer and another cousin who has a great voice (comes from my Granddad) so they sang a duet while another cousin signed it. It was truly beautiful to hear and see. It was a joyful service (but still with lots of tears).

Lainey had a fun time mostly with the other girl cousin (3rd grader) and they'd go sledding together and play pretend "house/go to work" Great to see Lainey comfortable enough to go *off* and play.

Okay more than enough about me!

Kim

[JoanneOR]

Wow, Kim, that does not sound like a fun drive! But glad you all made it there and back safe and sound. Those driving conditions sound scary; I'm sure the accident didn't help your DH's fears! Glad it wasn't more serious. My DH is the exact opposite. He has absolutely no fear of driving in those conditions and always seems to go too fast to me. I'm a nervous wreck and try to avoid us traveling when it's snowy or icy. Sounds like a really nice service for your grandfather.

[LaraW]

Heather, thanks for your experience on potty training. How old was Logan when he really "got" it? Natalie is 26 months.

Thanks also for asking about the PPD. I feel like I'm doing a lot better this time. Partly, I think, is due to Zoloft, that I started taking about 2 weeks or so ago. But, Colin is a better sleeper in general than Natalie was at this age and so I'm getting decent sleep at night which makes a world of difference. Also, Natalie is such a bundle of energy that I have been taking her out to play whenever the weather is nice enough (and when its not nice enough we have an indoor play area that is at our gym, and is a 2 minute drive away). Getting out of the house like that has been good for me - and just getting outside and into the fresh air helps too.

I think that the Zoloft is helping a lot in terms of me not getting as flustered and upset with Natalie when she's having a tantrum or whatever. It is still very frustrating when she does the "spaghetti legs" thing, and just makes her whole body floppy and lays down in an inopportune place (this morning was on the sidewalk outside the library) but I'm dealing with it.

Kim, oh my what a trip! I have been in that situation where nothing you do makes the kid better. Its the worst! Sorry to hear about the mirror on the car but LOL at why did Daddy hit a tree. Glad the service was nice.

Joanne, yea on getting the basement painted. Those projects just sap my energy just looking at them and knowing what is required to finish them!

We had a pretty good weekend here. DH is working on putting a swingset together for the kids. There was one in our backyard when we moved into this house, but it was in a place where we wanted to put our deck, so we took it down but saved it in the rafters of our garage. Well, DH got it down this weekend and has been working on putting it back together. That will be nice to have some play stuff to do in the back yard. The idea is to provide a place for Natalie to play outside while Colin is napping inside.

We tried putting Natalie in underwear, just to see what would happen, on Saturday. She did really well, I think. She had them on for about 2 hours, and peed on the potty twice and had 2 accidents. The first accident was really funny because I was emptying the dishwasher and she was standing next to the dishwasher. SHe likes to "help" and usually finds something that she takes out and plays with while I finish emptying it. Well, the item she took out to play with was an insulated coffee cup belonging to DH. She played with it for a while and then it was on the floor next to/under her while she was playing with the silverware or something. All of a sudden, I realize she is peeing, and she is peeing right into the cup! Very tidy. :D

The 2nd accident was in the same spot (no cup) but she didn't really seem to notice either time that she was peeing or that there was a puddle under her. I'm not sure if at 26 months she's really mature enough to understand, and I figured if we put her in underwear and she didn't seem to notice/care about wetting her pants that maybe she wasn't ready and we'd try again in a month.

I am starting back to work tomorrow on a very limited PT basis - probably about 3-4 hours/week. This is another of my plans to try and ward off the PPD since it will give me some adult interaction and something constructive to do with my time. It works well because I can just do as much as I want, and if Colin is fussy or whatever I don't have to do anything. It will also make things less overwhelming when I go back to my usual PT schedule (I normally work 24 hours/week).

I have a question - does anyone have any experience with nail biting? Natalie has started chewing on her nails in the last month or 6 weeks (it started before Colin was born). It used to be on nails that were long, and I'd see her chewing and I'd trim her nail, but now all of her nails are chewed down. I'm sure that its at least partly due to the new baby, and whenever I see her chewing, I remind her to take her fingers out of her mouth. And, when she is playing nicely without fingers in her mouth, I tell her what a good job she is doing at not biting her nails. I'm just not sure if this is a phase that will pass or not. I used to be a nail-biter, and so I'm afraid that this phase may turn into a bad habit. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Happy Monday, everyone :)

[hrk]

Good morning all

Kim-
What a trip. I can certainly empathize with driving in those conditions. Driving in snow in the east is so much different than mountain snow in the west. I am glad to hear the time with your family was nice. HOpe it doesn't cost too much to get the car fixed.

Sarah- Sorry to hear about your dad, but I guess it is better news than the alternative. Glad to hear Ella is having success with her pull-ups.

Cheryl- Sorry to hear griffin has been so sick. Hope it clears up soon. Glad to hear Garrett did well with his therapy. I am sure it will help him thrive.

Joanne- Good for you guys for being so diligent with your basement. I am sure the end product will be worth the work.

Lara- Glad to hear things are going well. It sounds like you were very proactive in taking care of your health and it seems to be paying off. As for the potty training, you are in the exact situation we were in. Logans teachers kept telling us that Logan was ready for potty training around 26 months, so we tried it. He had some hits in the potty but just as many misses, and the misses didn't affect him in the least. I had heard that when they are ready the accidents will affect them and when we tried again Logan was 30 months and they did affect him. I would say wait and see what happens and just keep encouraging Natalie.

Well Logan and I were on headed home from school yesterday and he pulled out one of his books that has his name written in the front of it. He points to his name and says "Mommy that says Logan, spelled L O G A N." I was blown away. We knew he recognized his name but obviously someone at school is working with him on letters and spelling. That's nice to know.

Hope everyone is doing well.
Heather

[Sarah428]

Heather - That's great! Ella has been reading me the letters on stop signs every morning...and making sure I stop! ;)

Lara - I'm glad to hear that the Zoloft is helping and you're able to get some sleep. Good luck w/ your work transition, it sounds like Colin is being a little trooper for you and hopefully things will go smoothly.

Kim - You are a saint! I don't know if I would be able to handle such a road trip w/ 2 little ones and the weather/roads being crappy.

Joanne - I love to paint but I can't stand doing the trim work! If you can I'd love to see some pictures.

Cheryl - Hope Griffin is still feeling better and this has passed. That's wonderful that he likes his teachers so much, it's so nice when you can start off on a good note.

Potty training update: Ella is doing great! We remind her often but now she goes right when she sits down, no more sitting on the potty for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. This a.m. she peed before breakfast then while she was eating she said "mommy I have to get down to poop & then I'll come back and finish my PB toast" so she's understanding the clues now too. I filled her potty M&M treat jar last night and this morning she thanked me for making her more M&Ms :p!

Dad update: Yesterday was his 2nd full day of counseling (they don't do much over the weekend). I'm going to call my mom this a.m. to check on the status and see if they think he'll be home soon. According to my sister she thought he'd be there about a week. If he'll be there until at least Friday I'm going to try to go visit him w/ mom either tonight or Thursday. I've been an emotional rollercoaster w/ this. Some moments I'm fine w/ it and thankful he's gotten help but then I keep getting these visions of him sitting in his hospital room all alone w/ no friends or family (which is not the case, they take very good care of everyone there and keep them busy w/ counseling & activites) and I just break down. I think going to visit will do me good too, but it's also so hard to see my father in such a fragile state. This is the 1st time I've really had to deal w/ this issue as an adult and it's so different than when I was 15.

Thanks again for leaning an ear!

Sarah

[JoanneOR]

Lara, that's very funny about Natalie peeing in your DH's cup. :) Although maybe he didn't think it was so funny! Caitlyn was the exact same way. At first she didn't even care if she wet herself. I'd noticed she'd have wet pants and I'd have to search the house for the "puddle". Glad to hear you're doing well with controlling the PPD. That's got to be tough. It's probably easier to ward it off since you have Natalie and she keeps you busy. Plus, you probably know more what to expect this time around. And, the sleeping is a huge plus! Caitlyn does that spaghetti legs thing, too. When she doesn't want to get dressed she'll go all noodle-legged. Drives me crazy! As far as nail-biting, Jameson has always done it as far back as I can remember. He's also probably the most "nervous" of all our kids. We never really tried to break him of it; I'm not sure how to go about it. He never does it around other people though, the only reason I know is because his nails are always so short; I've never had to trim them.

Heather, that's great about Logan knowing the letters in his name. I know I would be shocked if Caitlyn did that! Colin amazed me with his reading last night. I know he's a good reader; they just tested him in 1st grade and he was at the highest level they go to. But last night he picked up a book I was reading and started reading it out loud. He was sounding out alot of really big words. I need to encourage him to start reading more on his own.

Oh, Sarah, that's got to be so tough with your dad. But, like you said, you know he's getting good care and keeping busy. How is your mom handling it? I hope he's home soon and that the hospital stay helps him get back on track.

That's great about Ella's potty training! So, what's your M&M recipe? :)

I wish we had taken some before pictures of the basement and some in progress pictures. It's still in progress; I don't think we'll get back to it until this weekend. I'll try to take some pictures of the finished project; hopefully it will be soon.

DH put in new shower in the kid's bathroom that slides up and down. They love it; now they all want showers instead of baths; which is much easier on me! Even Caitlyn loves it. She is so funny. Right after dinner she starts asking for her shower. Once she's in she refuses to get out. Last night she must have been in there for a half hour before I had to take her out. Poor Ian was next and there was hardly any hot water left. I'm having visions of how the kids teenage years will be; fighting over the bathroom and hot showers. :rolleyes:

[HRJ]

(((Lori))) Sorry to hear about your job – that stinks. Do you still have some time at work, or was it effective immediately? Will you be keeping Brian home from day-care while you’re job-hunting – and, are you still considering the idea of moving to Massachusetts? (I know I might have sounded rather negative when you posted your other thread, talking about the cost of living, but it is a great place.)

More importantly, glad to hear that Brian’s surgery went well. How is he doing?

(((Sarah))), hugs to you too, sorry to hear about your dad. Depression is such a difficult illness to deal with. But, as your mom said, and has you know too, of course, it’s a great thing that your dad recognized the signs of trouble early and sought help. I’m sure he is in good hands, but visiting him will help make you both feel better.

Congrats on Ella’s potty success! Yeah, I’d also like that M&M recipe! ;)

Kim, I second what Sarah said, you’re a saint for dealing with that ride. I share your DH’s anxiety about bad-weather driving. It amazes me that Lainey won’t sleep in the car – even now, as an adult, it’s very hard for me not to fall asleep on long car trips (unless I’m behind the wheel, of course.) DH finds it very frustrating, because he likes to have someone to talk to, and I’ll keep nodding off. Hope the service, and being with your family, brought you some peace.

Cheryl, sorry to hear about Griffin’s diarrhea – is getting any better. And glad that Garrett’s therapy seems to be going successfully and that he seems to like the therapist – when Victor had Early Intervention and speech therapy, we dealt with a few different therapists, and it’s amazing how different the chemistry between the child and the therapist can be.

Lara, LOL on Natalie and her “great aim!” Glad to hear that you’re having a better experience, regarding the PPD. Unfortunately, can’t give you any advice about nail-biting – I’ve bitten mine all my life. :o Although I can go through periods when I’m able to stop, during times of stress or tension, I slip right back.

Heather, that party sounded like a lot of fun – I don’t think I could carry off entertaining that many people, though, and I’m not anywhere near pregnant! :D I give you a lot of credit.

And, now that Logan recognizes his name, you’ll have to bring him to Boston sometime, so he can see his name on all the signs leading to the airport!

DH and Victor never got to Home Depot on Saturday -- originally, they were going to go with a friend of Victor’s and his dad, but something came up at the last minute, and the other family couldn’t make it. Victor had really been counting on his friend being there, and sort of had a mini-tantrum, saying if his friend wasn’t going to go, then he didn’t want to go, so DH figured, why fight him on it? Since it was really nice weather on Saturday, the three of us went down to the park near our house instead, and Victor burned off some energy on the play equipment – that was probably better than being inside, anyway.

Joanne, I’m not sure I can picture what you mean about a shower that slides up and down – do you mean the door goes up and down, instead of sideways? :confused: I’m surprised when I hear about very young kids who like showers – Victor can’t even tolerate it if I try to rinse the shampoo out of his hair with the spray-handle while he’s in the bath.

Victor surprised me yesterday by insisting on helping me mop the kitchen floor – I was mopping, and he kept asking to have a turn, so I let him have the mop, and figured he’d do a couple of strokes and that would be it. Instead, he cleaned the entire kitchen floor! :eek: (I use one of those Clorox Ready-mops, so he didn’t have to deal with squeezing out the mop or using a bucket). Every time I tried to take the mop back from him, he said, “You always get to use the mop!” (Yeah – lucky me! :rolleyes: ) “I want to do it this time, all by myself!” So, I let him – and then we went upstairs, and he mopped the bathroom floor, too! He was so into it. I’ll have to remember this, because I have a feeling when he’s older, he won’t be so enthusiastic about doing household chores!

This isn’t really kid-related, but …. DH and I decided last night that we both really hate our living room. Actually, we’ve been unhappy with it for a long time, but never really got around to deciding what to do. The main problem is that it has only two very small windows, so it’s very dark, very little natural light gets in. Ideally, we’d like to knock through the wall and put in some more windows, but we just don’t have the money for that right now. (Our neighbors, who have the same model house that we do, did that a few years ago, and it was $$$$). Also, if we’re going to be knocking holes in the house, I’d also really like to turn our dining-room window into a set of French doors, and then build a deck off that. But again, too much $$$.

The other big problem with our living room is the wallpaper – it’s this kind of glossy stripe in shades of off-white/eggshell/ecru. Very “grandmotherly” – actually, it’s pretty dowdy. It was here when we moved in. But again, we don’t have the money to hire someone to re-wallpaper, and I’m not anxious to do it ourselves. (We wallpapered lots of rooms ourselves in our old house, and, each time, it was a pretty unpleasant experience – we always joke that if you want to test a marriage, there are two things you can try to do together: wallpaper, or learn to use a canoe. ;) )

So, our plan now is to rearrange the furniture and re-do some of the décor, trying to be as thrifty as possible. I want to get new window treatments, though – I think that will be our “splurge” item.

Helene

[MrsReber]

Hi everyone!

Helene, my kids love showers now. Casey started taking showers and now Brenden likes to get in there with her. I like it because it takes a lot less time and we use less water. Brenden still likes baths so he will take them on occasion. then it takes forever to get him to come out.

Lori, so sorry about your job! That's terrible. Good luck finding something else.

DH finally agreed to waterproof the basement. I hope we're getting a good deal. It's expensive, but we're going to finance it and pay off the balance when we sell. I was just afraid we'd never be able to sell the house or we'd have to sell it for $20k less because of the water problem. I'm still scared to spend the money, but I'm also relieved to know it will get done correctly. DH seemed to think he'd be able to take care of it. However, we've been vacuuming water out of the basement for the past month now. I've had enough. Just wish we'd done it sooner. He's going to VA with a box truck full of stuff this weekend. Then we need to get painting and do some repairs. He assured me that he works well under pressure. I hope so. I want the house on the market this spring!

Now that Brenden wants to move, Casey is telling me she doesn't want to leave our house.

Kim, sorry to hear about your ride home. I hate when the kids are so unhappy in the car and there's not much you can do about it.

I must get back to work!

[tbb113]

Helene - I don't know if Joanne has the same kind of shower that I do, but the shower head is on a sliding thing so it comes way down and can go way up. Michael LOVES it since he can put it to the top and actually fit under the shower without ducking. Most showers he can't do that since he is almost 6'3". Mine also comes of the wall so you can put the spray where ever you want to hold it. It came with the house and it was made by Waterpick. I don't know if they still make them or not.

Kim - glad that the damage to the car was so slight and that no-one got hurt. Cars can easily be fixed, people not so easily ;)

[JoanneOR]

Helene, DH put in a metal strip on the shower wall that shower head slide up and down on, so you can adjust it according to the persons height. Not sure if I'm explaining it very well! But, with the kids, we can adjust it so it doesn't spray directly on their heads. Also since it's closer to them; I think it's less intidimating that if its six feet high. Good for Victor for helping clean! Yes, I'd definitely want to encourage that! I keep threatening the boys that they will have to clean their bathroom soon. Good luck with your remodeling project. Just a fresh coat of paint and moving stuff around can make a big difference. Our neighbors have the exact same house as us, too, but it is so different inside. They've had just about every room redone. It's kind of depressing to go there because it makes our house seem so dreary! But, it's inspiring me to do more with ours. We've been in our house so long and done so little. Now that the kids are a bit older it's getting easier to get things done. I'm vowing this year to do all the stuff we've been putting off. I'm going to paint all the kids rooms and take up the carpet in Caitlyn's room. I'm hoping the hardwood underneath is in good condition; otherwise we'll have it sanded and polished. And, oh yes, I can relate to testing a marriage while doing home repairs. Not fun!

Susan, my DH did actually waterproof our basement a few years ago. So far, so good, but I'm still not confident enough about it to put carpet down there. Hopefully you can get everything in order soon and sell and move!

[RunnerKim]

Helene - I think Joanne meant that shower *head* can go up or down (probably on a pole?). Lainey had a brief period of preferring showers - in frustration one night when she had said she didn't want a bath, I gave her a "choice" of having a bath or a shower. She has a real issue with the water getting in her eyes though. It's become a small battle after swim class (and she doesn't want to use the hand-held shower which would actually make it easier, but since there's only one and it's busy I haven't pushed it).

I'm practically narcaleptic in the car (did I spell that right). I can't even go on a 60 minute ride without feeling the need to nod off. Clearly Lainey does not take after me! I think I shouldn't have put the movie in for her right away on the first trip (when it was dark) but I could tell it was going to be a major fuss if I didn't and before she hasn't fallen asleep until after we're out of the city lights anyway (which is about the length of a kids movie).

Susan - I think you're doing the best thing fixing the basement. I know a lot of people wouldn't even want to look at a house that would need that kind of work on it. I know your housing market is very hot so maybe it wouldn't be an issue but it sounds like a fairly safe investment to me.

Lara, that's hilarious about Natalie peeing in the cup. Was she doing it on purpose?! Did you tell DH!

Yeah Ella! Sarah, I hope you can get up to visit your Dad. It sounds like it would make you feel a lot better.

Go Logan. It's very cool when you see them picking up on things like that. Lainey went through a phase where she was spelling everything her eyes rested on for more than 10 seconds. Her teachers even commented about it.

Does anyone here have a prepared missing child "kit?" While visiting my parents the topic came up. My Dad felt we should have something in place (they're raising my younger sisters 3 kids). After Katrina and seeing all the seperated families he thought it was something we should do. He felt my older sister and I were in the most need of such thing b/c of the possibility of an earthquake (just read that scientist predict a 10% chance of a severe (9.0) earthquake in the area in the next 50 years) but that they should also. I somehow ended up in charge of this family project. We have already done quite a bit of emergency prep and it's actually DH's family that is our initial emergency contact b/c they're outside of the region (Helene - was that you that asked about my family living in St. Louis???? - That's DH's family). Although my parents are on the eastern side of the mountain range so an earthquake is on our side (even a severe one) is not likely to effect them. It would not be hard for either my ILs or my parents to find a recent photo of the kids. I have a photo of everyone in our family and family photo of my sister/kids in our emergency kit.

I did some google searching and looked at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and boy was that a depressing thing to start doing. Not just the subject matter but also the number of Web sites that imho are out there trying to make $ off of people's fear. Anyway, I guess we're going to try to do fingerprints of all the kids and then have copies of all the kids for each family and update a head & shoulders photo every year (my kids need it every 6 months but the rest are older).

I was curious if others had done anything like this. I've opted to not worry about DNA. We have the blood cards from the hospital in our safe deposit box (which of course could be completely useless in an earthquake) but think poor Jamie would be bald if I collected 50 hairs off his head for each "kit" that I needed to put together. I figure DNA is really just for identifying dead bodies????? Important sure but not as critical as fingerprints I'd think?

Figure I'll also get around to scanning in all those important documents and insurance cards and putting them on a CD too.

And let's just say I started playing a new game with Lainey last night... how do you spelling Mommy's first name. What's JJ's real first name (her aunt) - and their last name. What city do you live in? What's your full name (since Lainey's a knickname). Sigh. I know I'm being a tad paranoid, darn it!

So is anyone else this....prepared? I know my sister's teachers ask that each kid have an emergency kit at school, maybe it's becoming a way of life these days?

Kim

[tbb113]

Kim - I think it is becoming a way of life because people want to feel in control. But, IMHO, it is coming from a place of fear. The school is now automatically given us pictures that can be scanned for missing children (and I think giving it to somebody else, I'll check tonight if you want me to).

I fingerprinted the boys when they were little because I was somewhere where they offered to do it for free. Have never bothered to update it. I figure if god forbid something happened to them, they have dental records to match the body to.

You need to do what makes you comfortable. Remember the odds of it happening to you is miniscule. Usually missing children are a part of a custody battle, not strangers kidnapping your kid.

When the boys were little I belonged to a Mom's Club. We had the police come and they reassured us that even though the Bay Area has more than its share of stranger kidnappings (per capita), the odds were still very small and to let your kids be kids and play outside, etc.

[cchhbb]

Kim, I'm so sorry to hear about your accident. Thank goodness you and your family is okay. I know my mirror was damaged about 3 months after I bought my Explorer and it was more than $500 to repair. Someone who had been laid off at work took it out on my new truck. I was so angry and made security scan the security camera to see if we could find out who did it.

Joanne, Garrett's therapy sounds a lot like your nephew's. They are working with him to answer questions, answer yes/no, follow instructions, ect. The therapist on Monday is terrific. I think Garrett is going to love her. He is going to see someone different during his session on Fridays. One of the reasons Garrett qualified for therapy is due to his huge gap between vocabulary and pragmatic speech. I think he tested above a 6 year old for vocab and at a 24 month old for pragmatic. Although, I do think that the results were really understated due to his failure in following instructions.

Heather, good to hear that Logan is spelling his name. Garrett sight reads at least 20 words now. I really haven't worked with him on it, it's just something he picked up. I really have no idea how many words he knows.

Kim, I play the same game with Garrett. He knows his address, name, DH's full name, my name is Mommy last name. I have tried to work with him on phone number, but haven't gotten him to be successful. I also have fingerprinted my kids and got their pictures taken during a street fair last year. Also, at church our mom's group had a policeman talk to us about stranger issues and he said that video is super important to have also. I only have the Santa video of the kids. We have designated my parents as our emergency contact too.

I just got back from Griffin's 9 month appointment. He's only 15 pounds 2 ounces. Sigh. That makes him under the 3%. As a result, they did a metabolic screen and the fast test shows too many of one type of cell so they are sending out his blood work to be reanalyzed. They also are going to have him have a sweat test to rule out cystic fibrosis. The Dr said that she doesn't think he has this, but she needs to check it off her list. He also needs to have a blocked tear duct looked at. Sigh. Poor kid is going to be seeing a lot of doctors over the next week.

Garrett actually went potty at school today. Twice. Granted, he forgot to tuck his p*nis so made a bit of a mess, but this is the first time since the first day of school that he's gone there. The first day, he didn't pull up his pants before he walked out of the bathroom and the head teacher got on his case and he has refused to go since then. He really seems to like the new assistant teacher. Also, I think Griffin is going to start at the school one day a week I think. A friend of mine is dropping a day and I jumped on it right away. I'll find out soon if we get the spot. I think I should. I absolutely love the teacher he'd have. She was Garrett's teacher the first year and we had a great time. I love her dearly.

Okay, I've written a novel. I need to get some work done for the consignment sale while Garrett is having quiet time. I have at least 120 paid consignors now. We cut off the sale at 150. It's a month away, so I'm really pleased.

Cheryl

[RunnerKim]

Tyra- just to be clear, it's not a kidnapping type situation I'm concerned about - it's a natural disaster. Still not exactly a likely situation but not that far fetched either. You live in earthquake land though too - you don't prepare for it? I think you're right that it is an effort to try to have control. My company has a seminar every couple of years on being emergency prepared (and this was even before 9/11) and that's really what made me set up a kit/supplies at home. But my sister's kids do have to have things like non-perishable food, emergency blanket, etc. at school. So maybe it's more of a local paranoia. Lots of talk about tsnumai readiness for our coastal communities (or lack of readiness) and then there's always a good ole volcano eruption that could cause a few headaches, but it's really an earthquake that is of concern. I'll admit it's a bit paranoid but I don't mind doing it with full expectation that it will never be needed. I'm sure I'll feel it much less necessary when the kids are old enough to know all their personal information (and no dental records yet). I think I'd microchip them if I could and be done with it ;)

Oh Cheryl - over $500. Ouch. Good thing DH did taxes and we're getting money back. Someone vandalized your mirror? In anger from being fired? Sheesh - I think I can see why they were fired. I don't suppose you had much luck in getting them to pay for it?! I'm not at all surprised that Garrett tested so high for vocab, I'm always amazed at some of the words he uses. Do you attend the therapy sessions (or able to observe them)? How do they work on having him follow directions?

Kim

[tbb113]

Kim - I think I'm in denial over earthquake preparedness. The elementary and I think middle school asks for supplies, but to my knowledge, the HS doesn't. I have minimial supplies at home and truthfully since we all spend such a large portion of the day away from home, I'm not sure what good it would do us to have supplies there. I don't carry anything in my car either.

I'm currently working 15 miles from home, in case of a major earthquake that does massive road damage, I'm not getting home anytime soon. The middle school is only a mile from the house, so Alex could get home and Michael is 3 miles, again, he could make it home. We all carry cell phones but if the damage was bad enough, they probably wouldn't work anyways.

Maybe I'm more lax because they are older or because I just don't believe we are going to get that major of a quake (stupid when I live where I live ;) )

The client company sent around an earthquake prepardness book. Even if I bought everything it recommended in the way of food/first aid/shelter...where would you store it? I don't have that kind of space and like I said, I probably wouldn't be at home when the diaster struck.

But, I fully understand WHY people do it. My parents know of someone who just had a major home fire. Photos of their belongings were just delivered to me in case of it happening in their home. Fear or knowledge of it happening to people you know does make you respond in ways you didn't think you would.

[cchhbb]

Kim, the funny thing is I wasn't involved at all in the layoff. I wasn't even working for the company that laid off the people. I just happened to rent space for my manufacturing area from them. I was able to get Ford to pay for it. I think the service guy put it in as a defective item. I had a good relationship with him so I think he bent the rules a little bit. I hope things are cheaper for you. Maybe you could get the parts second hand. I've had good success with that in the past when I had a car which seemed like a magnet around bad drivers. I was constantly coming out of a store and finding out that my car was hit and no one left a note.

I don't have all the supplies that you should have in case of a natural disaster. We had a small earthquake when Garrett was about 6 months old. Woke me out of a deep sleep at 4 am. I ran off to Garrett's room, got him up and ran for the basement. I thought it was a tornado. DH was out of town. I never thought Atlanta would have a earthquake. I am much more concerned about the effects of a hurricane or a tornado than anything else.

I don't get to observe Garrett's therapy sessions. I have to sit in the school lobby and hang out with Griffin. I hope that I can walk around the parking lot because he's just not very tolerant of having to sit still for very long. I did have about a 15 minute meeting with the therapist after the session. I don't know if that was since it was the first time or not. I do know that I will get a notebook/folder from her with homework every week.

Well, I found out that I tested negative for cystic fybrosis while pregnant with Garrett so that should rule out Griffin having that. One less thing to worry about. I need to talk to his doctor and see if that means he can skip that test. I guess they make the child sweat and then collect the sweat and analyze it.

I need to finish picking up the house. I'm having a decorator friend over to discuss my kitchen tomorrow and can't let her see the mess I have downstairs.

Cheryl

[tbb113]

Cheryl - I know that one of the symptoms of CF is very salty skin and tears. So you could do an unscientific taste and lick Griffin and then lick Garrett and see if Griffin seems saltier. I really hope that he doesn't have it as it is not a good disease (like there is a good disease :rolleyes: ) to have. Friends of my mother had a daughter (my age) that was diagnosed as a child.

I hope that what ever they find is mild and easily fixable.

[Molli526]

Well, I found out that I tested negative for cystic fybrosis while pregnant with Garrett so that should rule out Griffin having that. One less thing to worry about. I need to talk to his doctor and see if that means he can skip that test. I guess they make the child sweat and then collect the sweat and analyze it.



Cheryl,
If you tested negative for being a CF carrier, there is no way possible, genetic-ly speaking, that Griffin can have CF. CF is a recessive disease, which means that you AND DH would have to be carriers AND both pass on the recessive gene to Griffin.

[cchhbb]

Tyra and Molli, Thanks for the info.

I thought that since I didn't carry the gene, that would rule that out for Griffin. I spoke to the nurse today at the doctors office and she talked to one of the doctors who said that there are some other rare genes (not covered by the test) that can also cause CF theortically. So, they are going to defer to Griffin's primary doctor to make the final decision. She is going to call me on Friday to discuss it since she is at their other office today and wants to review my test results and Griffin's chart.

Now, my high risk OB and the genetic specialist at their office says that there is no way that he can have it. I just don't want to do the test if we don't have to do it. I know that Griffin's doctor said that she didn't think he had it, but wanted to rule it out since he is not gaining weight very well. He's dropped from the 20% to under the 3%. He had a dramatic drop from 4 - 6 months where he gained less than a pound.

I need to start pumping again. She would like us to spoon feed Griffin BM during each solid feeding. Also, we are adding a morning and afternoon snack. It's funny that she said put as much fat in his food as possible. I kid that he is on the butter diet.

[RunnerKim]

I went back and read the end of last week's thread b/c I realized I'd missed quite a bit for only a couple of days.

Cheryl - I'm still not sure I'm caught up on Griffin's issues that they're testing for CF. Is it simply b/c he's not gaining weight like he should? :( How very stressful.

Paula - wonderful account of your trip to the ER. We're a 1 car family too and it can cause some logistics issues, so I could totally relate to that. I stuck a button my nose when I was a young kid - I think the regular pediatrician could extract it though. My mom took me and the doctor offered her the button back but she declined. You don't have a decent urgent care option? Urgent care has been a much more pleasant experience all around for us (we have a 24 hour one too, although there's ERs closer, I will go to the Urgent Care first unless we're talking about something that needs an ER specifically).

Looks like the car driver-side mirror isn't going to be that expensive to replace. Around $200 I think and they can do it fairly quickly. Lainey has been very interested in this whole thing and asking lots of questions about it. She was upset she couldn't go with DH to drop the car off this morning so she'll be very happy that he ended up not leaving the car and that we're going back after work today and waiting while they fix it.

I attended a brown bag lunch put on by the daycare to talk about their education philosophy. It was pretty interesting; they pull from several different theories. One parent though has an axe to grind (she works with DH so I've heard all about it already). She is on the war path because she feels her son gets too dirty and his clothes get ruined. I just don't get it. I'll be the first to admit that clothes are not high on my personal interest list but they daycare states very clearly to send your kids in clothes that can get dirty; that they don't use bibs and smocks; that they're willing to change kids in to nicer clothes at the end of the day if there's something special happening that evening. The teachers do change (or help change) kids that are messy or wet from art or eating. This parent just kept going on and on about it (and I know she's talked with the director several times about it). Maybe it's because the first daycare Lainey went too, I felt was much more of a maintenence orientated place - Lainey was too clean at the end of the day for my taste. This is the type of woman who always has something to complain about (and passionately too). It's rather irritating. I made a point of telling the director later that I don't care how messy my kids are at the end of the day; to me it indicates they've been doing something, experiencing and having fun. And we don't seem to have ruined clothes (but I'll admit that I might not notice a small stain). I think they're going to continue to have these brown bag lunchs on a monthly basis and talk about various aspects of their philosophy in more detail but if she continues to use it as a opportunity to rant and complain, I doubt they'll be willing to do it.

Kim

[tbb113]

Kim - I agree with you. I always figured the dirty my kids came home from daycare, the better day the had :) I'll always remember the day that Michael came home with dirt on his tush. He had slid down the hill so much on him bottom that he ground the dirt through his jeans and underwear ;)

Glad that the car won't cost that much. My parents were hit over the weekend at a stop light (hard enough to push them into the car in front.) Fortunately no-one was hurt and even though it's minor damage to the front bumper, I think it is close to $1000. Car repair can get costly quickly.

Michael decide to go out for track and field. Anybody know anything about discus and shot put (his planned events)?

[Laura]

Michael decide to go out for track and field. Anybody know anything about discus and shot put (his planned events)?

Tyra, delurking to say that we can be virtual track moms together. Paige is going out for track (long jump, triple jump, and sprints) too. She has never done track but I figure with her legs (about a mile long ;), and all her ballet) she should do okay. Sorry, I don't know anything about Michael's events.

[MrsReber]

I have to laugh about the dirty clothes. I don't send my kids to daycare in good clothes. They're clean without holes, but I save the good stuff for home because I know that it can get ruined. It's ridiculous to expect the daycare staff to stand over every child during every activity to make sure they don't ruin their clothes. Besides, what kind of values are you instilling if you're sending your child to school in his or her best clothes? The value of the education is worth far more than the clothes. One of Casey's friends starting going to another daycare. The other girls in her class actually make fun of her clothes! At the age of four!!

Cheryl, I sure hope everything is okay. Both of my kids were always in the bottom percentages for weight. Casey was actually in the 3rd or 5th percentile. The doctor was worried and wanted to do testing. I didn't think it was warranted because she was normal, if not advanced, in every other way. I understand the need to get to the bottom of the problem, but sometimes the doctors scare the pants off of us trying to do it! Good luck with everything.

[tbb113]

Tyra, delurking to say that we can be virtual track moms together. Paige is going out for track (long jump, triple jump, and sprints) too. She has never done track but I figure with her legs (about a mile long ;), and all her ballet) she should do okay. Sorry, I don't know anything about Michael's events.

Sounds good to me! It's a no cut sport here so he is guaranteed to make the team. The throwing coach is also a football coach and I know that there are some other football players on the team. I figure if he can't get grades to get to college, maybe sports will take him? :D But he needs to do better in this then he has been if football if he hopes to get recruited. ;) I also think he wants to do this to avoid getting a paying job (cynical aren't I?). It will be an interesting experience regardless of the outcome.

[Molli526]

ITA about dirty clothes. DS's teachers have finally gotten it, that I don't care if he has some stains on his clothes when I pick him up. To me, it shows he was having fun doing whatever. They are kids, they are going to get dirty!

[SaraInWisc]

Hi All!
I've been keeping up but haven't had a chance to post until now. I can't believe it's Thursday already. I do confess I thought Tuesday was Wednesday and went to work to work the wrong day. Oops! I work in the floral dept of a small grocery store. I know next to nothing about flowers but that's what there they put me. I work evenings and it's a very slow time. I'm looking for a change. I've only been there since Sept. I applied to a local gym and if they throw in membership...Looked at another preschool this week, The Goddard School. It seems nice but I'm to keep looking. We have an appointment at another next week but it already has a draw back to me. The 3 year old class is only 2 days a week, Tue and Thur. I would really prefer 3 day and consecutive days of the week. Looking at school here it's more alternate days of the week. I'm trying a different tact on approaching the potty training. Before, would you like to have big girl underpants or try the potty. "no I too small". Now, at Target holding Dora underpants, these are for daddy or Lydia or Henry. "no they too big, just right for Briar." A-ha! Haven't schlepped them up from the car up still recuperating from the shopping. Looks like the house may close at the end of the month. Relielf and sad at the same time. Sorry, to go on and on. Take care all!

[LaraW]

Cheryl, sorry to hear about the testing for Griffin. Let us know how it turns out.

Kim, glad that the car won't cost too much to get repaired. I'm sure Lainey will enjoy watching it get fixed, if you're able to do that.

I agree about the clothes from daycare being dirty. I don't really care - Natalie's clothes for the most part are playclothes. Its the clothes getting lost that bugs me. One time DH went to pick her up from daycare, and there was some other kid wearing the outfit that she'd been wearing that morning! :eek: It was over the summer, and the kids had been stripped down to diapers to play in the pool, and when they were getting dressed again is when the switch happened, but I was ticked. We've had a few instances of things getting lost which has made me mad because things are well labeled and put in the correct place. How hard is it to make sure the kid has the right stuff?

We have had a bit more success on the potty, and so we're doling out the m&m's slowly. :) Natalie had a little dribble yesterday, so she got a piece of candy. I've kind of decided that even though we're going to wait on trying the "ungaweer" for a couple of weeks, that I'm going to have her sit on the potty when she gets up in the morning, before/after nap, before bed, etc just to get her used to sitting on it a few times a day.

I'm having a quiet day today. Need to run to target before picking N up from school. DH has a meeting tonight, and so I'll be home by myself this evening.

Need to go and figure out what I can do to get dinner started before I need to leave. :)

[JoanneOR]

Cheryl, I hope the testing comes out OK. It sounds like a really remote chance and the doctor is just exploring all bases.

Kim, that woman sounds like she's looking for things to complain about. Who cares if the kids get dirty? I feel sorry for her kids; they must not be able to get messy at home either. All she needs to do is get some play clothes for them that she doesn't care about and that's that.

Sara, good reasoning about the underwear! All the preschools around our area do the same thing - two days for three year olds, then three days for four year olds.

Tyra, don't know a thing about discus and shot put, but wishing Michael luck! I'm really hoping my kids can do well in academics or sports, because I have no idea how we'll put all four of them through college! Right now, I don't think they have a chance with any sports scholarship. ;) The academics are looking a bit better. :)

Way to go Natalie! Sounds like you have a good system going.

Caitlyn pooped in the potty yesterday! Yea! I'm hoping it's not a fluke. DH caught her trying to sneak away and do it and got her to go on the potty.

I need to ask for some prayers for a heart baby. I'm in a group on Yahoo for moms of kids with heart defects similar to Caitlyn. One of the kids had a surgery this week similar to the one Caitlyn had almost two years ago. He was doing OK, but today I read that he arrested last night and is now on life support. It really hits home to hear about something like that because it could have been us. I can't imagine what the parents are going through now. I'm sure a few extra prayers will help. I'm going to go home and give Caitlyn some extra hugs tonight.

[Sarah428]

Ella is going away for the weekend so DH & I will get baby room stuff done. We're making our annual V-Day dinner of steak & lobster on Sat night.

I went to visit my dad last night, it went OK. His Dr had suggested he look into shock treatment therapy & on Wednesday they showed him & my mom a video about it. Needless to say it didn't go over very well, it was very disturbing to both of them and I think it put him 3 steps back. It's so hard to see him so sad and fragile but I just keep reminding myself at least he's getting help.

I haven't been to the gym this week, haven't been sleeping well so too tired in the am...everything just a little off track. Had 6 month OB appt and everything is perfect so far, something to keep my spirits up. Last night when I visited my dad I put my "visitor" sticker on my pregnant belly and that got a laugh out of him.

Joanne - Hope Caitlyn starts to get more comfortable w/ the potty and my prayers are on their way!

Lara - I think it's good to ease Natalie into the potty, we've had success w/ it.

Kim - I agree w/ you and everone else, I expect Ella to get dirty and have fun at daycare...that lady has too much time on her hands to complain about that!

Have a good weekend all!
Sarah

[NMG]

Hi guys! My DD Tesa (27 mo) has been interested in the potty and occasionally using it for the past 9 months! She has started asking me for Pony underware the past few days but I only bought her the Feel 'n' Learn princess pull ups - is this wrong of me :confused: She doesn't use the potty often enough, but the few times she has had on underware and has started to "go", she realizes it and goes on the potty - I guess that's why I thought the Feel 'n' Learns would be good for her. Not really sure what to do especially since she is at a home day care during the day - BTW, her babysitter is wonderful and very encouraging for Tesa to use the potty.

On the dirty clothes issue - I agree that the kids should get dirty - mud, markers, glue, food, etc!! Kids are supposed to have fun and what fun is it when you can't get dirty :D Both my kids have "daycare clothes" and then there's the ones that get hung up that don't go in there bag!

JoanneOR - my prayers go out to your friends baby and his family. I hope everything turns around and he gets better soon.

[RunnerKim]

Sarah - I'm sorry to hear your Dad is having such a hard time. i'm glad you got to visit and share a laugh.

Joanne - that must be very difficult for you. I'll certainly think of the child and hope he he's better soon. That's great that Caitlyn pooped on the potty! Even if she doesn't do it the next time, it's still progress; she'll be more and more comfortable sitting on the potty to poop. Stay vigilant!

Tyra - that's exciting about discus and shot put! but I don't know much about it. i have been to a few track and field meets - at least there's a little more variety of things going on that at say a football game but there can be a lot of down time too. Good for getting some reading done though!

NMG - imho - yes get rid of the "feel and learns" and deal with the extra laundry. I'm willing to bet that it won't take her long (that much extra laundry) to figure it out. She sounds very ready and I think switching her over to regular underwear will help her make the final transition. Good luck!

It's been sunny here all week and i'm looking forward to actually getting to experience that tomorrow (it better stay sunny!). We're planning a trip to the zoo. Lainey's been collecting change for a couple of months now for the coming bob cat, cougar and black bear exhibit. She was very excited when I read her the article in the newsletter and wanted to go see them right away. I told her they had to build their home first and they were asking for money and maybe we could give them some to help it go faster. I don't think it'll open until this summer, so I hope she doesn't think it'll be ready the next time we go to the zoo!

Kim

[HRJ]

Kim, glad you're going to get some good weather -- but over in this corner of the country, everyone's getting ready for nor'easter they say is coming this way! :eek: At this point, it's supposed to arrive Saturday night -- glad it's hitting over the weekend.

Also, glad you could get your car mirror fixed quickly -- but you're not going to believe this -- when DH was pulling out of the parking garage at his office last night, he sideswipped a pole, and knocked the mirror off his car! :rolleyes:

Enjoy the zoo!

Sarah, glad you had a chance to see your father -- the idea of the "visitor" sticker on your belly is pretty funny!

Joanne, my thoughts go out to that baby's family. (()) Please let us know how he's doing.

And, two points for Caitlyn for pooping in the potty!! :D

Cheryl, I hope they can get some definitive info about Griffin very soon -- I can imagine how stressful it must be .... it is difficult when the doc. want to do tests "just to rule something out" -- you know they're trying to be thorough, but even considering distant possibility of a disease like CF is hard.


About kids clothes at day-care -- that woman sounds nuts, Kim! I absolutely don't care how dirty Victor's clothes get -- to be honest, about all he owns are "play clothes." When my mother was here for Thanksgiving, we went shopping, and she wanted to buy him an "outfit" -- she picked out some nice corduroy pants and a button-down shirt, and then wanted to get a matching blazer! :eek: I told her not to bother, he didn't have any job interviews coming up!

The one thing that does annoy me is the amount of hats/mittens he manages to lose, right in the on-site playground. Although I have to say, it's much better this year than it was the past two winters.

About the discussion about emergency preparedness -- I'm not nearly as prepared as I should be, I guess. After Katrina, I printed out all this stuff about how to prepare your home for an emergency, and then didn't really do much about following through.

Around here, the chances of a substantial earthquake, tornado or high-category hurricane are fairly small -- I think the thing we should most likely be prepared for is a blizzard or nor'easter (like the one predicted for this weekend .... ) and in that case, it would most likely be a matter of being snowed in the house, which we're basically prepared for. Of course, being just outside a major city, there's the issue of terrorist attack -- but I guess I don't want to think about that too much.

Tomorrow, my parents' group is doing at activity at a local nursing home -- bringing kids over there to make Valentine's. Then we have a lunch/playdate with a boy from Victor's preschool.

In the afternoon we might -- just might -- go to a "cat adoption" event being held around here by an animal rescue group -- I'm more psyched about getting another cat than DH is, so we'll see. We haven't told Victor yet -- even if we go, I think we'll tell him that we're just going to "see some cats" without letting him know we might take one home.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Helene