Toddlers/Preschooler Moms Week of May 8

[hrk]

Hi all,
Up early this morning and had a few extra minutes so I thought I would start the thread this week.

Happy BIrthday Sarah. How did swing set shopping go? We have a small climbing set in our backyard and Logan loves to play on it. How many weeks left to go until baby #2?

Helene- How was the circus? We have taken Logan to Ringling Brothers the past two years and he loves it.

Cheryl- $70 for one day at the aquarium. :eek: That is almost how much it costs for a family membership at the Baltimore aquarium and that is for a whole year. You might look into the cost of a membership and waht they offer. We belong to the baltimore aquarium and they have special members only morning where they let members in early and the aquarium is pretty empty. We love it.

Lara- How is being back at work going? I just started taking Logan to school in the mornings again, and so I ahve to have the two boys ready, but I am usually unshowered and unfed, so I can only wait until I have to go back to work and I have to be ready as well.

Well we had a nice weekend here. We went to the park on Saturday to watch some friends of ours play football. Ari enjoys being outside and Logan of course loved the park. Yesterday was swim lessons for Logan and a quiet afternoon. We actually had both boys napping at the same time so DH and I got some quiet time- it was heaven.

We are in full swing getting ready for Logans birthday. I made up a calendar for Logan to mark off the days until his birthday which has seemed to help with the "my party is today" questions. Got all the supplies ordered, just need to order the cake and pizza for the fire station. And a question for you guys- I have arranged for our babysitter for Ari,so he can stay at home while we do Logans party at the Fire Station. That way DH and I can devote all our attention to Logan and know Ari is safe and taken care of. The fire station party is just for Logans friends and our family party will be at home that evening. My mom disagrees with me hiring a babysitter and says Ari should be with us, he is part of the family. Any thoughts or anyone care to agree or disagree? What have others done?

And Logan is starting to try and give up his nap. Like this weekend he didn't nap on Saturday but went to bed around 7 and slept until 7:30 Sunday morning (this is a child who is up religiously at 6 am) but Sunday he did nap. He seems to be OK with it and it dosn't affect him too much, but it makes DH and I be very flexible. We ahve been enforcing if he doesn't want to nap, he needs to spend a quiet hour in his room, and that seems to help.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Heather

[LaraW]

Just have a minute to pop in, but I wanted to respond to you, Heather.

Being back at work has been OK. Tuesday, I was exhausted when I got home, but Thursday was a lot better. I just work 2 days/week, and so I am sure that makes it easier. I got out the door just fine Tues morning, but I forgot my breast pump on Thurs, and was several blocks away from home when I realized it, so I had to go back. I still made it to work by 8:30, though. It helps that both kids go to the same daycare so I only have to make 1 stop.

I agree with you about getting a sitter for Ari. He's not going to be "into" the birthday party anyway, and it seems to me that it is respectful of Ari to try and keep him in HIS routine as much as possible. I don't feel it is fair to a little baby to make him adapt into the family's routine 100% of the time - he probably gets/will get drug around enough as it is. Colin sure does. I try to keep things consistent wtih his routine as much as possible, when its possible.

Its also nice for Logan to get some 1 on 1 time with Mom and Dad. He has probably been missing that since Ari was born. Both boys will have more birthday parties, and its not like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'd probably do the same thing, given the same circumstances.

[NMG]

Hi everyone! Tesa is feeling much better and seems to have fully recovered from the flu or whatever bug she had caught last week. I've decided I think Tesa's going to be in the fashion industry when she is older - she told me this weekend that pants and shorts are "boyish" and refuses to wear them :p she picked out the cutest longe layed orange skirt and double tank and a hot pink sun dress on Sun at the mall! I guess I'll have to stock up on sun dresses for the summer! Tesa has also been really into wearing underwear - and has been doing very well for the past week - even when she was sick, she wanted to wear them. I still throw a diaper on her during naps and bedtime - soon enough :D
Heather - I totally agree with Lara about leaving Ari at home during Logan's birthday party for his friends, I would do the same thing - besides, Ari will be around for the party with the family. Let Logan enjoy the spot light :D How old is Logan going to be??? Tesa has to have at least 1/2 hour of quiet time too if she feels she doesn't need a nap (she usually ends up falling asleep).

[tbb113]

Heather - I would leave Ari with a sitter as well. He is too young to even know that he is being left behind. Have you asked Logan where he thinks Ari should be? He might want Ari there....

When Michael was 4 we went to Disneyland and left Alex (8 months) with my mom for the day. That way the 3 of us enjoyed the park since having the baby would have prevented us from doing lots of stuff.

[RunnerKim]

Heather I would 100% do what you're doing. We've left Jamie with my sister for several things. If it were a family party that would be different - and there'd be more people there to give you a hand with Ari. I try to give both kids their own time. Birthday parties can demand a lot of or organizing attention, let alone wanting to be able to give Logan special birthday attention.

I had to catch up on last week's thread...Cheryl! That teacher is a huge problem!!! I don't know for sure but I'd think there'd be some legal repercussions if she did that to a kid in the public school system (IEPs are confidential from what I understand). Completely unethical and unprofessional. I'm so glad you've found a place for him that you're much happier with. Our daycare teachers make sure they don't even mention by name which kid is out with an illness and it's obvious which child isn't there.

Natalie - glad Tesa is feeling better.

Lara - the book I have talks a lot about modeling the spending/saving habits you want your kids to learn. That's the hardest part!

We had an early morning today. The place where Lainey takes her gymnastics class was being featured on a local news program. Since Lainey's up around 5am anyway, I volunteered for her to go in for an early time. Of course it would be the one morning she doesn't wake up at 5am sharp! She did fine though - not even staying shy for that long. Her couple of minutes of fame (well more like 5 seconds here and 5 sec there.)

Kim

[MrsReber]

Heather, I totally understand your mom's point of view. BUT, if she's not going to be there to hold Ari the whole time, then that's going to be really rough on you. I mean, my kids are so close in age, we weren't having birthday parties until Brenden was 2 and could participate. I also agree with what Tyra said about asking Logan what he wants.

Our leaky tank is being pulled on Thursday. We had to fire our other contractor. They just wouldn't go pick up the permit from the township! It was sitting there for THREE WEEKS. They wouldn't schedule the removal without the permit and they refused to go get the permit (it was in their name. They told us from day one they'd get it and tack it on to our bill.) I called their office three times to tell them to go get it, then, the fourth time, we told them we're done with them. DH and I both called separately. We got another guy that same day. The next morning, he had the permit changed over to his company and he scheduled us for Thursday. Unbelievable. So we'll see how things go from there. Time is running out!

I've been lurking. Not much time for posting, unfortunately. Brenden is in the shower right now. Casey was taking forever. I'm the same way :D - I keep explaining to her that she's going to use up all the hot water. One night, I actually let her stay in until she ran out of hot water so she's understand. Our hot water heater is on a timer and it had been off all day so the hot water didn't last all that long! She got the point.

Cheryl, that's awful! I'd be really upset. I hope you got to speak to the guy in charge. That's unacceptable. The woman incorrectly diagnosed your son on her own, gave him a label and then shared her thoughts with others. Completely unacceptable. Like Kim said, our daycare doesn't give out any info about any child. When there's an illness going around, we get a note in the folder, but they never mention a name. There are laws about that kind of stuff!

I better get Brenden out of the shower before he turns into a prune. He's singing songs in there now. It's actually pretty funny.

[dearamy]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted stop in with a quick hello--I have been thinking of you all & the toddlers too, but have been completely swamped since returning from Austin last week. We really liked Austin & are actually putting an offer in on a house first thing in the morning :) :eek: My in-laws arrived in town less than 24 hours after I got home, so I have been feeling kind of overwhelmed with everything. They are heading home tomorrow & Lila & I will get back to our routine & I'll catch up with this week's thread.

I hope you're all having a great week!

My best,
Amy

[tbb113]

Amy - I was just thinking about you and how the trip to Austin went. Obviously you all liked it a lot :) Hope the offer is accepted. When are you planning on moving?

[LaraW]

Amy, I was just thinking of you and wondering how your trip to Austin went. Glad it went well :)

We had a pretty good weekend. I had planned to put Natalie in underwear all weekend, but it didn't really work out. We did underwear in the morning, and then she had an accident and then a tantrum so I put her to bed for her nap before lunch. She did not want to get back on the potty after her nap, so I didn't force it.

We went to the park to play for a while in the afternoon.

Sunday morning, we went to early (7:30 am) church and then just got a bunch of stuff done around the house. Colin went to the grocery store with me, then Natalie and I went to Costco for our monthly stock up.

We are still having some sleep issues. She was refusing her nap yesterday, and DH found her in her closet 2 hours after putting her in her room :rolleyes: She did finally go to sleep for a short nap, and then had a hard time going to sleep for the night. Today was better. Tomorrow is a daycare day, so I know she'll be worn out from that. ;)

Natalie was cute tonight. While I was getting dinner ready (DH was grilling some hamburgers) she came into the kitchen with 2 stacking cups that each had a block inside of them. She said "I made cupcakes!" and kept giving them to DH and me to eat. It was cute :) She has a little table on her swingset and she will take some rocks or whatever she finds in the yard and will say "making dinner".

Heather, getting out the door in the morning is definitely a challenge. I think it will be better when Colin isn't nursing anymore, but it is just a lot. DH goes in to work early so that he can pick them up at 4:00, so he's not here in the AM to help. I'm going to try putting both diaper bags and my pump into the car tonight so I don't have to do that part tomorrow.

[cchhbb]

Hi everyone.

Heather, We took Griffin with us to Garrett's birthday party and I wish we didn't. Griffin was about 6 months old at that time and wouldn't take a bottle so I didn't think we could leave him that day with a sitter. Griffin was miserable at the zoo since he didn't get his nap. DH ended up holding him the entire time.

Lara, Garrett would do the same thing about napping. He would play in his room for a really long time and then would finally crash. It was so tough putting him to bed for the night since he slept too late in the afternoon.

I'm sure getting out of the house will get easier for you when you have a little more practice. I have always prepared for getting out the door the night before, even before kids. I just found it easier to lay out clothes and get everything ready the night before.

Kim, sounds like Lainey had her moment in the spotlight.

I had a very difficult talk with the Director of the preschool last week and frankly am not happy with the outcome. Essentially, she said that Garrett's teacher needed support and this other teacher was a resource. I have gone to a member of the preschool board who is going to talk to the Director today. If the Director doesn't change her tune, I'm going to her boss.

Amy, sounds like a good househunting trip. Good luck on the offer.

I had a doctor's appointment and ended up taking Griffin with me this morning. Griffin had a total meltdown there while I was in the bathroom.

Garrett is doing so well with his tutors. He loves going. He managed to memorize the book that was read to him yesterday after just one time. He is so into everything that she does with him. Garrett doesn't qualify for summer assistance since he's made so much progress, but I decided to hire his tutor privately for the summer. I just want him to continue making progress with his social speech.

Cheryl

[JoanneOR]

Heather, I'm a little late chiming in on your question, but I definitely would leave Ari at home. You said you're having a family party at home afterwards, right? So he'll be at that. We've left both Colin at Caitlyn at home with my mom usually when they were under 2 and we had parties for the other boys. They don't know they are missing anything; they are much happier at home. It's usually chaos at the parties and you'll be taking away time from helping the birthday boy celebrate by having to take care of Ari. It'll be easier on everyone.

Kim, did Lainey make it on the news?!

Amy, good luck with the house! Glad you were able to find something so quick!

Susan, sorry to hear about your difficulties getting the tank removed. What a pain. Hopefully it won't be too long before you can put all this behind you.

Lara, I still have difficulties getting everything together in the mornings! I try to do as much as possible the night before but sometimes I'm so exhausted I have a hard time getting up off the couch when everyone is finally in bed!

Cheryl, how much longer will Garrett be in that preschool? They really need to do something about that teacher - it doesn't matter if she's the main teacher or a resource teacher, she's gone way out of line.

We've had an interesting few days. Friday was Family Friendship Day at school. The classes all sing songs for all the parents and then you go into the classrooms to do activities with the kids. Well, since we have three in school and there are only two of us, we had Jameson call my MIL and ask her to come and go to his class with him. He called twice to remind her. Well, everything seems fine, she's at the performance and then goes to Jameson's room with him. I went with Ian and DH went with Colin. The program was over, so we leave and wait for Jameson outside his room. Well, he comes out in tears. He says, "grandma didn't stay, she said she had to go let out her neighbor's dog." :confused: :confused: What the heck! She knew about this for a week and didn't tell us she would need to leave early, we could have made other arrangements, so Jameson would have a partner in class. Oh, I was furious. The poor kid had to sit there while the other kids had their parents or grandparents there and do the activity by himself! She came over the next day and I had to walk out of the room because I was afraid I would blow up at her. She said she misunderstood, she didn't know it would last so long. That's fine, but the dog could have waited.

Our weekend was OK. Trying to get the house ready for the Ian's Communion on Saturday. I have so much cleaning to do. Ugh! It's impossible to do with my little "helper", too.

Yesterday I went on the field trip with Jameson. It was really interesting to see the dynamic of the class and how he fits in. I actually felt really sad, because you can tell that alot of the kids really don't include him and seem to have some amnimosity (I think I butchered that word!) towards him. It's hard to explain, but he really is on a different level than the other kids. I don't mean academically necessarily, but the things they were talking about he has absolutely no interest in at all. They're into sports, music and he'd rather read books all day. Which is totally fine, but I hate to see him excluded. He really doesn't seem to have any friends in the class. I don't know; maybe I'm analyzing it too much! He's happy at home and doing great in school. I was really glad I went, though, because he was thrilled to have me there. And, what's with a nine year old boy having a cell phone?? :rolleyes: One of the boys in my group had one and kept pulling it out. I can see having it to call home or so that your parents can call you, but he had all kinds of numbers programmed into it.

We've also had some dog issues, too. The last few times we've left Tully alone she's destroyed things. This weekend she chewed Colin's back pack for school. I had bought this wood floor cleaning kit that comes with the mop and the cleaning fluid. Well, she destroyed the box, chewed open the cleaner and spilled it all over our carpet. She's also eaten DH's shoes. And, a few of Caitlyn's Dora figures. I was pretty upset yesterday. I don't like feeling like we can't leave the house without something being destroyed. I told DH we need to get a crate. She still is not housebroken, either. She had been fine, but the other day I dumped a pile of clothes on the floor to fold. She came over and right in front of me, peed on them! What is that all about?

OK, that's my novel for today!

[MrsReber]

Joanne, poor Jameson!! That made me so sad. I agree, the dog could've waited! What kind of an excuse is that?

Yes, get a crate! Soon! We don't let Dallas have run of the house at all. He is either in the crate or secured in the hallway- we can close off the one end and we keep all the bedroom doors closed. He can't be trusted and he's chewed up stuff right in front of me. I bought several toys for him to chew on, but he'll still go after other things.

Question for everyone- Casey is due for her MMR shot in 2 weeks. The dr's office told me that we can do a blood test instead to see if she is immune. However, she has to be immune to all three diseases. If she is immune to all three, then she won't need the shot. I can't decide what to do. We'll have a lab co-pay and we'll have to take the time to go for the bloodwork. If she's not immune, she still needs the shot. I'm undecided. I talked to another mom over the weekend. Her son was immune to measles and rubella, but not mumps so they had to get the shot anyway. I don't think Casey is really bothered by the shot, but it's been a while since they took blood from her so I don't know how traumatic it might be. Last time she just sat there. I think she was just over 2.

[JoanneOR]

Susan, I would go for the shot. Blood work is much more traumatic and the actual procedure lasts longer than the shot. I'd rather have a shot than blood work! Chances are she's not immune to all three and then she'd have to go through both the blood work and the shot. Do you have two dogs? Are they both crated? We make sure to close all the bathroom and bedroom doors when we go out. But, she can open the door into the living room which is a sliding door. That seems to be where she's getting into all her trouble. Tully has lots of toys, too, but prefers the forbidden things. :mad: DH and I need to have a serious talk about the crate.

[hrk]

Thanks everyone for the reassurance about Ari and the birthday party. I know in my heart I am doing what is right for Ari, it is just hard when your mother questions you. I know she has the best of intentions but she and I certainly don't see eye to eye on some things.

Joanne- I am sorry to hear about what happened to Jameson, but you would have thought that the teacher could ahve accomodated him in some way so it wasn't so traumatic. As for the dog issues, we have had our basset hound for almost six years, and he is still crated or left in a shut room when we go out, or else all the trash cans are turned over when we get home.

Cheryl- I am so sorry you didn't get a satisfactory answer from the director. Having had Logan in daycare for two years, I can relate to teachers speaking when they shouldn't. :mad:

Lara- We do all our prep work for the next day at night also, otherwise something gets forgotten. We always do all our lunches, get the school bags ready, put out any thing that needs to go with DH or I etc. He will be in the same boat as you are when I return to work as I will be going in early so I can get to the kids by 4.

Susan- Sorry to hear about all the problems with the contractors. DH works with contractors all the time and he says they are the most trouble sometimes. Hope the tank gets taken care of quickly.

Things here are going well. Logan's school is celebrating teacher appreciation week so ysterday we went to the market to get flowers for his teachers and he did really well with it just being me and the two kids. He really likes helping out mommy where Ari is concerned. I figure milk it for as long as it lasts ;)
Hope everyone is doing well.
HEather

[RunnerKim]

Joanne - yes, get a crate! It will save your sanity. Goodwill and such places might have used ones. They can be a ton cheaper online too but shipping sometimes negates that. I'll see what I can find for you.

Sorry to hear that Jameson is not clicking with any classmates - although it sounds like his interests might not no matter what the age??? Hopefully he'll eventually find someone to be good friends with. He actually sounds a lot like my DH who was very much a bookworm/advanced reader, very academically smart but more challenged socially. He's also the oldest (of 5). I think he did have a tough time in school socially but I also don't think he cared about it much - certainly not like I would have (or probably most girls). I wouldn't be surprised if it is tougher on you than on him!

Is that the same grandmother who gives things to her grandaughters and not her grandsons? Your MIL?

Susan - that's interesting that they give the option to test for immunity. Has Casey had any kind of reaction to the MMR? I believe some kids have some fairly strong reactions to it, so in that case I could definitely see doing the immunity test. But if you think the "trauma" of having the blood test is going to be just as bed as just getting the shot to begin with (not to mention if you have to end up getting the shot anyway) then probably go that route. Will you run in to any trouble with schools if you don't give the vaccine or does the immunity test go on her shot record too? I go back and forth on vaccinations - I've chosen to stop vaccinating my pets (except for rabies) and run titers instead even though it costs more. I think its insane to vaccinate pets so frequently (annually) and actually believe that it's a detriment to their health (after the puppy and first adult vaccinations). But that's not the same at all as we're talking about for kids.

Cheryl - I'm sorry the meeting with the director didn't go well. I can't say I'm surprised - from everything you've posted, I just didn't feel like they'd be responsive to your concerns.

Lara- yep I also try to have everything ready to go the night before. It does get easier but our mornings are too crazy to try to remember to things. Speaking of...I didn't get chicken out to thaw for tonight. darn it.

Amy - glad you liked Austin. It's a pretty time to visit there - I was always impressed with all the wildflowers they have there. I lived there for 2 years (end of high school).

Kim

[tbb113]

Joanne - sorry to hear about Jameson. Alex had a tough time with making friends as well when he was younger. His interests aren't exactly mainstream (reading, roleplay, drama, no sports). When I put him in the ATP class in 4th grade, it helped immensely. Now at almost 14 he has a close circle of friends from our temple...but still not that many friends from his classroom.

Maybe if you can put Jameson in somethings outside the classroom with like-minded kids, he will find someone to click with?

[JoanneOR]

Jameson's situation probably is tougher on me than him. It was such a tough transition for him at first - I posted about how upset he was at the beginning of the year. I think part of why it bothers me is I feel guilty for moving him up. I don't think I would change it, but still. I think he's accepted the way he fits in and is comfortable with himself - which is the most important thing. He's proud of how well he's doing academically. I worry about this stuff too much, probably because I wasn't the most popular kid in school either. Actually him and I are alot alike. And I think I turned out OK. ;) And, Kim, you're right, it's probably much harder on girls. I just don't want him hurt. I think he's come to the point where he's not hurt by the kids' actions or being excluded. He accepts it and knows that he's a good kid and has support at home and that's what's important. He does have friends in the neighborhood, but they are a mix of ages. Even then, when all the kids are out playing, sometimes he'll just want to stay in the house and do his own thing. Another tough thing to deal with is that Ian seems to be quite popular at school. With the boys and the girls. :rolleyes: He has one friend that has had him over a few times and there are a couple other boys from class on his block that all play together. DH thinks we should limit letting Ian go over there because Jameson feels bad that he doesn't get invited over to any friends' houses. I understand that, but I don't think Ian should be limited in interacting with friends because of Jameson's situation. I told Ian he could invite this boy over and DH thought I shouldn't have done that because Jameson would feel bad. Ian did call him, but he wasn't home. But, he still wants to have him over and he should be able to. Oh, the joys of parenting!

Tyra, what's the APT class? Jameson is really interested in Karate and took Tae Kwon Do a few years ago. I'm trying to find some lessons for him to take. I'm going to look into some of the library's activities, too, for him.

[RunnerKim]

Joanne,
I did some quick crate searching. I've found Omaha Vaccine http://www.omahavaccine.com to often carry affordable priced pet supplies. The have #400 Vari KENNEL 36"L X 24"W X 26"H - Tan $77.48 plus around $9 shipping. I think that size would work for you. A crate should not be spacious - just enough from for the dog to lay down, sit and stand with a couple of inches of extra head room. They like it cozy (like a den). This is the standard plastic crate. Another option is a wire crate which is more expensive but they can fold down and allow more ventilation (and you can cover them with a blanket if they need less stimulation).

I've never understood why crates are so expensive.

But I'd first check Craigslist, I be you could find a much more affordable used one from there and not deal with shipping at all.

Editing to add: Joanne we were posting at the same time. DH's next younger brother is way more social, charming, outgoing etc. etc. than DH. BIL has always cared about his clothes, his look (brands etc.) and DH never has. They're close in age - 18 months and 1 year apart in school. They were close growing up and often were put in activities together. They complemented each other well actually and although there was of course some rivarly there - DH did better in school academically - BIL just didn't care as much about the academics. I think it was in part a way of distinguishing themselves from each other. It's probably a bit of looking back with rose colored glasses-I'm sure his mom would say it was harder than DH remembers.

Kim

[JoanneOR]

Thanks, Kim! Craiglist is a good idea. I'm off to check there.

[tbb113]

Joanne - the ATP (advanced and talented program) is a magnet class for our school district for the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) kids. You first had to be GATE identified (based on tests in 2nd grade) and then apply and test for this program in 3rd grade. It is strictly 4th and 5th grade. It was a great thing for Alex since it placed him with 20 other very bright, academically oriented kids that had some of the same likes as he did. Instead of 2 friends...he now had a group of 5 or 6 boys that he hung around with.

Alex is now interested in drama so I'm pretty sure he will hang out with the other theater rats in HS

Michael is different. He is very social (both girls and guys) and while he has no super close friends (which bothers him sometimes) he has a large group of friends. Surprisingly...just a few of them are from football and track.

[NMG]

Hi all! Just wanted to pop in and let you know a little progress with Tesa (sorry, I'm a proud mama :D ). Tesa's been recognizing her name spelled out for a few months now, but yesterday she spelled it out for me!! (not written, although she does scribble as she's saying the letters and she does understand that letters make up words) I thought it was so wonderful and she was so proud of herself!!!!

Joanne - is Jameson in any extra curricular activities - maybe a reading/book club at school or outside of school since he enjoys reading so much???? I was in enrichment classes in elementary and middle school (I didn't take advanced classes in HS only doe to a small Highatus (SP?) that I went on ;) ) and it really sparked my interest. I remember being so bored in school, but for so many hours a week, we got bused to a different elementary school for our advanced classes. They were very interesting and fullfilling for me and I wish I would have stuck it out in HS.

[MrsReber]

Joanne, yes, we have 2 dogs and 2 crates! With my dog, I tried letting her have run of the house when I was living along (me, the dog and the cat!) I would come home from work to spilled garbage, torn up carpet and somehow my little dog could climb up on my kitchen counters and dump stuff on the floor. Well, that was it for me. I actually got a rabbit cage for her because she's small and it was less expensive. Dallas has a huge crate. He chewed it up a couple of times. DH has to fix it again, which is why he is being enclosed in the hallway for the time being.

I wasn't a popular kid either. My sister always had tons of friends. It didn't really bother me. I was into the the plays, olympics of the mind. My friends were the smart ones who cared a lot about school while my sister hung out with the crowd that partied all the time. She and I have a great relationship, though she now tells me she wishes she chose her friends more carefully and that my parents pushed her more to excel. She didn't have the desire that I had in school to do well. Anyway, Jameson will find his way. The kids will change each year and he'll make some friends. I was never close with the other kids at school. It's true that it's harder on you than on him.

Casey didn't have any reaction to the first MMR shot. I guess she got that one around 18 months or 2 years. Supposedly the blood test results are as good as having the the vaccination record. It's really the mercury that everyone gets upset about. My mom was just telling me about it a few weeks ago. She was saying how there's so much more autism now and it's due to vaccinations. I don't know if I believe that. I have to wonder if it's just being diagnosed more these days. Besides, I haven't seen any definitive reports on a link between the two. I heard a new report was to be issued soon by the CDC?

Heather, I hate dealing with contractors!!!! It's a necessary evil in life. But we're on for tank removal tomorrow. I'm scared. DH will stay home and bring the kids to daycare a little late tomorrow. The contractor is supposed to show up between 7:30 and 8:00, which is when DH is normally dropping the kids off. Anyway, we both want Brenden to see the equipment. He's crazy over construction stuff. We're doing a construction vehicle birthday for him this year. His first party with his school friends. I'm excited for him.

I better get back to work (blech). Keep your fingers crossed for our tank removal! After tomorrow, we'll know if we're selling our house now or if we'll have to wait!

[HRJ]

Susan, good luck with the tank removal. I bet Brenden will love seeing the construction vehicles. When Victor was about 2, our neighbors had some work done on their house, and we told Victor that the backhoe was “Scoop” from Bob the Builder – it was so cute, he thought he’d seen the “real” Scoop.

About the MMR vaccine – without getting into the whole vaccines-autism debate, just wanted to say that it’s my understanding that thimerosol (the preservative that contained mercury) is no longer used for children’s vaccines in the U.S. This is from the CDC: Today, all routinely recommended licensed pediatric vaccines that are currently being manufactured for the U.S. market, with the exception of influenza vaccine, contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts.

Joanne, I’ll echo everyone else – Jameson’s situation is probably harder on you than on him – the school year’s almost over, and, hopefully, things will change next year. Do they mix up the kids from different fourth-grade classes when they form new classes for fifth grade – maybe you can talk with the school about making sure he’s with a different mix of kids next year? But I wouldn’t limit Ian’s social activities because of Jameson – I think you’d run the risk of creating some resentment on Ian’s part.

I’m so sorry your MIL let Jameson down like that! :mad:

Amy, glad you enjoyed Austin. My DH used to fly there for business a lot, and he always enjoyed it.

Cheryl, glad that Garrett is enjoying his lessons with the tutor. I’m sorry you didn’t get the response you wanted from the preschool director -- glad you’re going to continue pressing the matter until you get some satisfaction, but I know it must be taxing on you, emotionally.

Kim, you’ll have to tell us about Lainey’s time in the spotlight – did you see her on TV?

Heather, I know you’ve gotten lots of opinions on this, but, yes, I wouldn’t worry about leaving Ari with a sitter, especially at this age.

Speaking of birthday parties, I thought it would be a good idea to have a “gym party” for Victor at the Y that we recently joined (the one where he’s taking swimming.) After getting all the info, etc. it turns out that they won’t do a party for the weekend before July 4!! I want to have his party either Sat. July 1 or Sun. July 2 (his birthday is Monday, July 3). We’re going to be away all the other weekends in July, and the weekend before that, there are already two other parties scheduled for kids from his class. (in his class, there are six kids who were born within 10 days of each other! :eek: ). In August, Victor will be moving to his new school, so I want to have the party while he’s still at his current school. So, it’s off to look for another place.

Victor enjoyed the circus last week – he really loved the clown acts; some of the acrobatic acts went on a little too long for young kids, I think. Except for some trained dogs (who were wonderful!!) and horses, there were no other animals at this circus.

Victor had a great experience at swimming lessons this week – it’s like something has “clicked” with him, and he’s decided he really wants to swim. He was treading water (wearing a swim bubble), and kept calling out to me, “Mommy, look, look, I’m swimming!!” I think it helps that there seems to be a good chemistry between him and the teacher, and the teacher’s style of relating to the kids is one that Victor is very receptive to.

Question for those of you with kids in swim lessons – do your kids wear a “bubble” or other type of flotation device in the water for their lessons? That’s what they do at the Y (where we’re taking lessons), but at the Boys and Girls Club (where a lot of my friends’ kids go, who are the same age as V.), they don’t use them. I was wondering what the thinking is on that issue – I’m glad that Victor is using a bubble now, because I think it has helped him get used to being in the water and to feel more confident, but I’ve also heard that it can make kids over-reliant on the bubble, and then it’s harder for them to really learn to swim on their own.

Helene

[JoanneOR]

Kim, what did you decide about the blood test/shot. I wasn't thinking about the mercury issue when I first replied, but that's something to consider. Although haven't they taken out the mercury from the vaccinations?

Poor Colin got sent home from school today. This morning he told me his throat hurt. It looked OK and he didn't have a fever and he was running around with Tully so I sent him from school. At 9:00 the school called DH and said he had a fever. DH took him to the doctor and he has strep throat. Our doctor's office now has the quick strep test. Ian's communion is Saturday; I hope he can stay healthy! And, us, as well. I have alot of cleaning, shopping, cooking to do! I'm off tomorrow and Friday, so I'm not too stressed.

Susan, wow, you and your sister sound like Jameson and Ian! Well, it's probably not fair to say that about Ian; but if any of my kids were to be a partier, I would guess it would be Ian. Just an example of the difference between the two: Jameson refused to drink the wine at his first communion because he wasn't 21. Ian has asked me how long is it before he can drink beer. :eek: And, you're right, the kids will change; he'll meet new kids and eventually make some friends. And, I seemed to much more concerned than him at this point! He really seems happy lately.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a succesful tank removal. I'm sure Brenden will think it's the coolest thing!

Natalie, that's great that Tesa's spelling her name! How old is she again? I've been keeping an eye out for extracurricular activities for Jameson outside of school. He's planning on joining the computer club next year and he's joined the chorus this year. The band program is giving presentations next week and he's interested in joining the band. Not sure what instrument he'll take up; hopefully it's small. ;) I really wish our district had some advanced classes like you and Tyra described, but they don't. They used to have a program in the school where they would pull kids out of the class for some advanced stuff, but they discontinued it this year. Now they supposedly do track learning where the kids go at their own pace, but I really don't see it happening. Ian brings home extra work occasionally, but that's it. I'm not too happy about it. During the summer they have two week programs for kids who are at a certain level on fun topics like space, animals, astronomy, etc. and all the boys are doing those.

I'm still trying to convince DH to get a crate. :mad: DH had bought a box of garden gnomes :confused: and Tully chewed up the box while he was at the doctor today with Colin. They were kind of strange and I wasn't sure why DH bought them since we don't have a garden. I guess he couldn't pass up a bargain. :rolleyes:

[JoanneOR]

Helene, we were posting at the same time. My kids haven't really had formal swim lessons since they were 3 or 4, but they had always used some type of flotation device. As they got taller and were able to stand in the water they stopped using them and are able to swim without them and seem to have no fear of the water. They didn't seem to become reliant on them. That's so great to hear that Victor is really enjoying his lessons now! :) Yes, they do mix up the kids each year so Jameson will be with some new kids next year. There's two classes, so it'll probably be half different kids. Then the next year he'll go to the middle school.

[tbb113]

Joanne - if Jameson doesn't have any preference in an instrument I would suggest the trombone. There aren't that many kids that pick that instrument and you can get college scholarships if you play trombone. :cool: Of course, I found that information out AFTER Michael stopped playing trombone when he entered HS (decided being on the football team was better then being in the marching band) :rolleyes: :D Alex played the clarinet for 2 years...not a huge instrument to carry around. Flutes are played almost exclusively by girls so I wouldn't suggest it (it is probably the smallest instrument). Drums are good too...you only need the practice pad at home, but you need a LOT of physical cooridination to play the drums

[RunnerKim]

Helene - that's wonderful to hear the Victor is so happy in the water now. The only time the kids put on a flotation device (life jacket - orange U shaped that they have at the pool all the time) is when they're going down the slide on the last day. Only kids that aren't swimmers put them on (it's 3' deep where the slide dumps out). Since the class is held in a part of the pool where the kids can touch the bottom easily it's not an issue. When I took the infant (parent/child) class - it was held in the deep end but we didn't put a device on the babies since we were always holding them. I've "heard" that devices can be detrimental to learning good swimming habits because they inhibit natural movement/use of the arms or whatever. Maybe that was just for those blow up things you can put on kids' arms though. We have a vest style life jacket for Lainey. DH picked it up late last summer - I thought it was a strange purchase since we don't go boating or anything but it will come in very handy when we go to the pool at my sister's complex that is too deep for Lainey. We took the vest a few times to the public pool but I felt Lainey was relying on it too much and not getting "practice" in doing things like kicking or going under water (plus it was giving her a raw spot between her legs where the strap went between her legs).

I too have been assured by my pediatrician that mercury is no longer in vaccines and also given information saying that there's never been conclusive proof that there's a link between mercury and autism, but I know that's contested by some.

Jamie got his first MMR at 12 month visit. Maybe that varies by state.

Lainey's appreance on TV was live but DH taped it for us so we were able to watch it. Can definitely see her several times for several seconds but I'm not sure anyone who didn't know to look for her would have recognized her.

Natalie - it's very exciting when they start learning those things! Isn't it fun!

My sister passed on to me an old workbook that she had for her soon - it's for preschool age. Lainey's loving it. I let her do 2 pages out of it a night before we do our reading time. Much of it is too easy for her but there's also letter writing practice which is helping her a lot and I've discovered she doesn't know some of her shapes very well, which surprised me (square and triangle specifically get mixed up). Her preschool teacher mentioned about using those big pencils to help her hold her pencil correctly - I guess I can find those at the store? She's gotten better about it - I don't think I hold mine correctly (plus I'm left handed) so I'm not sure how much I'm helping or hurting her in this area! Most of my pressure/guiding comes from my middle finger and my thumb (isn't it suppose to be your pointer/index finger and thumb?).

Kim

[MrsReber]

I have heard that the mercury has been removed, too, but I was recently reading something saying that it wasn't. I don't know what to believe. I'm not overly concerned about it since there is no real link anyway. But I was wondering what to do. DH said to just get the shot. It saves me the hassle of going for the bloodwork.

Kim, Casey loves her workbooks. We found some at the dollar store, too. I noticed a huge improvement with Casey learning to read and her ability to write her letters. She has exceptional handwriting for an (almost!) 5 year old. Brenden doesn't hold his writing utensils correctly yet. He's not really interested in writing, though.

I used to read all the books to the kids at night. Now, Casey reads one book and I read the rest. Brenden has asked to read a couple of times. He does try. He did pretty good last night since he memorized a couple of books. I'm curious to see if he learns to read sooner than Casey since he tries to do everything she does.

I wanted to comment on Tesa's learning before! It is so exciting to see our children learning things. I love it. It seems endless, but each time they learn something, it's as exciting as the first time. It's funny to me now to see other parents with little babies getting all excited over stuff. Before I had kids, I didn't fully understand it.

Joanne, you need a crate!! My own DH didn't want to crate Dallas ("his" dog), but he learned very early on. DH was against crating. He always thought it was cruel to keep a dog in a crate. It could be dangerous not to crate a dog, too. You never know what they can get into that may be harmful to them. He doesn't have any accidents in the house, but if there's something he can get into, he WILL find it.

[NMG]

Joanne - It sounds like Jameson will have a lot of oppertunities to make some new friends with the extra activities :D Tesa is 2-1/2 - I can't believe she'll be three in October already!!

MrsReber - Its very exciting and I love when Tesa asks me to lay over on her floor so she can read to me! She's memorized a few books and likes to "read" them to me and Mikey :) We were playing with her little mop and sweeper and she wasa reciting her Apple Dumpling book (scrub, scrub, sweep sweep, keep the house neat!). What a little ham!!!

Kim - thats so cute that Lainey got to be on TV!! Was she excited???

I will have to look into some workbooks for her at some point. We have a Leap Start Learning Library and a Leap Start (I think) book (the ones that have the stories that you can switch and you can do a few different things while reading the story). Her interests in them are on and off - depending on what kind of day she's having ;)

Helene - Sounds like Victor is really having a good time!!! Do you have a park with a playground and pavilion by you for Victors birthday party??? We've gone to a few birthday parties in the park and they were a lot of fun for the kids :)

[Mama Mia]

Hello Ladies!
I am new to this forum - love to cook and love wine too!
Just so happens that I have a soon to be 5 year old (Jack) and a 2 1/2 year old (Tess) also.
Heather - are you from the Baltimore area too?
We don't belong to the Aquarium - but we do belong to the Science Center - Port Discovery and the Maryland Zoo, too!
RE Your son's birthday - have you considered bringing the sitter to the firehouse to watch your little one? I have hired a sitter for my son's birthday in May to watch my daughter but they will come with us to the event.
Just a thought.

[hrk]

Mama Mia- Welcome and we look forward to you joining us. I live in Gaithersburg, MD, but my IL's live in Gambrills and we belong to the aquarium so we are up in the Baltimore area a lot. We have also met a few of the other families from this thread in Baltimore a couple of times.
I did think about bringing the sitter to the fire station, but since DS#2 is only 2 months old I think it will be too overwhelming for him.

Joanne- Sorry to hear the kids are sick again. I hope Ian stays well for this weekend. And as for the crate issue, our dog has been crated since he was a puppy for night time and when we are gone, and truth be told, I think it is very loving to give a dog their own space. There have been times when we have had a lot of people in the house and our dog has gone upstairs and into his crate, cause he knows its his own safe space.

Susan- I do believe that all the mercury has been removed from the vaccines, but if you are still in doubt you are perfectly within your right to ask youor ped. to see the bottle that they draw the vaccine from- it should be labeled mercury free.

Helene- Logan hasn't taken non- parent assisted classes for swimming yet, but they take place at the same time as his and I have never seen the kids wearing any type of flotation device and they are in deeper water. The kids are usually on a step or where they can stand and they work with the instructor one at a time. Most of the local pools in our area are on a kick to ban flotation devices for kids cause they say it gives the parents a false sense of security.

Kim- Congrats to Lainey on her few minutes of fame.

NMG- Congrats to Tessa on spelling her name that is great. Logan loves to memorize books and read them back to us. He was on the floor the other day reading his books to his little brother. It was priceless.

We got the party supplies for Logans party yesterday and he was soo excited to look through them. It should be a lot of fun.
And I got my mothers Day present yesterday. My DH and a friend of mine's DH gave us both a seesion at a place called Let's Dish, where you go and prepare meals to then have frozen at home for quick dinners. We got to pick our meals yesterday and we are going next TUesday night. I can't wait- a free few hours to myself with my friend and it looks like some delicious meals.

Hope everyone is well.
Heather

[NMG]

Hi Mama Mia!!

-Natalie

[paula]

Dear Mamma Mia,

Welcome to the boards from another Baltimorian, albeit for only a couple more weeks (moving to Philly-area in late June). I currently live in Pikesville and have 3 1/2 yr old boy/girl twins. Like Heather, we are members of the Aquarium, but we also have membership at the Zoo and Port Discovery. However, we rarely use the Port Discovery membership because my kids love the climbing gym, but I can't keep track of both of them while they climb. I haven't taken my kids to the Science Center - do they have exhibits for preschool age kids? We love the park that is up on the hill behind the Science Center!

Paula

[RunnerKim]

Welcome Mama Mia!

Joanne - let me know if it'll do any good and I can track down a "Why should you use a crate" article you could give your DH.

I don't think being on tv phased Lainey too much. She's seen herself on tv before because my digital camera does 60 second video clips and we put them on a tape for my in-laws (and she sees the movies on the computer/camera).

Heather, enjoy your time out with your friend. We have a couple of places like that around here (I think the original company originated in Seattle) but I haven't tried them out yet.

For mother's day my DH invited my sister and her kids over and he's going to supervise the kids making breakfast and then if the weather stays dry we'll all go geocaching since it's something her kids have wanted to do for awhile and they didn't get to go along last time we went. Our tradition is to go to the farmers market and buy our garden veggie starters and get those planted but that tends to be on Saturday.

Kim

[RunnerKim]

I know a few of us here are dealing with asthma in our kids so thought I'd share an article that a coworker gave me today. It's in the Oregonian but I can't find it on their web site (it's an AP article, so probably in other papers as well). Studies are being reported in New England Journal of Medicine.

Oh - coworker just found it on the Seattle Times web site :rolleyes:
Study finds steroids don't prevent asthma (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002986253_asthma11.html)

It starts:

The risk of the disease is not diminished by inhaled steroids in infants or toddlers.

Giving inhaled steroids to toddlers at risk of developing asthma helps them in the short term but doesn't prevent the chronic conditions as had hoped, a federal study suggests.

Sigh. Oh well. Our pediatrician had already warned us/predicted that we were going to be stuck with asthma for the long haul because both kids have eczema (so 2 of the 3 related issues - hay fever doesn't show up until kids are closer to age 7).

The study went on for 2 years - I'd still be curious if there's a difference in kids at the "natural" out-growing points. I thought I'd been told that some (many?) kids outgrow respiratory issues at kindergarten age and then some more around puberty/high school. I'd wonder if more kids that have been on preventative inhaled steroids might outgrow it then. Or maybe that's what they mean by pre-schoolers.

Paula - do you have any additional insight being immersed in this world?

Kim

[MrsReber]

Thanks for the info, Heather. I figured you or Paula would know something about the vaccines. I'm not sure why they passed that law that offers parents the choice, though? I know my BIL says he didn't vaccinate his kids because he felt a natural immunity was better. I guess there are religious concerns for some people, too.

Welcome Mamma Mia! :) My daughter will be 5 next week! I can hardly believe it. My son is 3, but he'll be 4 in July.

Oil tank has been removed. The township cleared us. We can sell our house!!!!!!! I'm going to see if the agent can come by this weekend so we can list it. One major stress gone. It'll be replaced with more stress as we try to find a buyer. Some houses have been sitting in our neighborhood. Dh and I think our house is more appealing, though, because of it's location. We have a few new houses right next to us and we have a nice size yard for our neighborhood. We'll find out for sure very soon.

DH said Brenden was so excited to watch the excavator take the tank out, he couldn't even get his shoes on. DH kept them home today. At 12:00, Casey was asking to go to school! However, it's naptime there from 1-3, so there wasn't much point in it. He said he may see if he can drop them off at 3:00 for a couple of hours so he can get some things done while he's home. I know Casey wanted to see her favorite teacher, Miss Jenna.

Kim, I never really thought of that- of course kids would be so used to seeing themselves on tv with all the video equipment we have these days. They probably don't see any difference between a home video and being on "real" tv!

[gertdog]

Like Heather, we are members of the Aquarium, but we also have membership at the Zoo and Port Discovery. However, we rarely use the Port Discovery membership because my kids love the climbing gym, but I can't keep track of both of them while they climb. I haven't taken my kids to the Science Center - do they have exhibits for preschool age kids? We love the park that is up on the hill behind the Science Center!

Paula

Delurking for a minute because I had to comment on this! A few years ago I visited Port Discovery while doing research on museum spaces for young children. One of my interests was how spaces are designed to be both fun for children and manageable for parents. I asked the exhibits director there how they dealt with a climbing structure that had entrances and exits on multiple floors, and she replied "well, that's really the parents' problem, not ours." :eek: How very family friendly! I wasn't particularly impressed with them for a variety of reasons, but that one comment has really stuck with me.

Also- the Science Center has a space called the Kids Room that has activities just for young children and infants. It has been re-designed since I was there (on the same research trip) but I have heard very good things about it.

Re-lurking now. :)

[HRJ]

Stephanie, that’s interesting – there’s a climbing structure at the Children’s Museum in Boston, and I think that also has entrances/exits on multiple floors. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want Victor to go on it when he was younger – we actually haven’t been there for quite a while.

Susan, congrats on the oil tank removal. Here’s wishing you a speedy sale!!

Joanne, here’s hoping the strep germs stay far away from Ian!!! And that everyone else stays well, too. Good luck with the party – I honestly don’t know how you handle everything.

Natalie, very exciting about Tesa learning to spell her name.

Those of you who mention workbooks, what sort of things do they include? We’ve done lots of those “connect-the-dots” books, both using numbers and letters, and now Victor is really into doing mazes – but I don’t know that I’d consider them “workbooks” – is that the kind of thing you’re talking about?

Hi MammaMia! (Is your name Mia?) My son will be 5 in July.

Heather, there’s a Let’s Dish that just opened a few towns away from here, and they’re advertising that one is going to open in my town in September. I’m interested to hear how your visit goes.

I’m a little jealous of those of you who have Mother’s Day “traditions” – my DH can be very thoughtful most (well, some …. ) of the time, but if I didn’t make a point of telling him that I’d like Mother’s Day to be a little special, it would pass without any acknowledgement on his part. :mad: :(

I’m also a little jealous of those of you who can plant vegetables already – I guess I could have started peas already, but we won’t pass the “last frost” date here until around Memorial Day.

My birthday party issue: there are lots of outdoor places to have parties – including my own back yard – but I’m worried about what happens if it rains? When Victor turned 3, I had his party planned for the back yard, and it was pouring rain that day. Since there were only three other kids, we had the party in the living room, and it was fine. But last year, when he turned 4, there were 8 kids at the party (each along with 1 or 2 parents) – I had it in the back yard again and it was a beautiful day, but if it had rained, I don’t know where I would have put all those people – my house is just too small to fit that many people comfortably, and there certainly isn’t enough room for the kids to run around. I just don’t want to worry about the weather again.

I did talk to a karate place earlier today that does birthday parties – it’s fairly close to the day-care, so I’m going to get Victor later, and then we’ll go over there to look at it together. For kids his age, they do games – not really actual karate – and then have a magic show. You supply cake.

Thanks everyone for the input on the swimming question – at this point I think it ‘s OK to stay with the bubbles, but, I think I’ll talk with the Victor’s teacher about the reasoning for using them, and find out what they do in the more advanced classes.

Gotta tell you, all this talk about dogs wrecking the house isn’t doing much to make me want a dog. ;) When we were in New Jersey this past weekend, a friend of mine was saying that her cat had just had four kittens, and was trying to convince us to come back and take one when they’re old enough. <Sigh> It’s very tempting – I *know* how to live with cats. Dogs seem just so …. complicated.

Helene

[RunnerKim]

Helene - the book we were given says workbook on it, so I call it a workbook ;) My nephew actually did all the mazes in it and Lainey loved the one that was in Your Big Backyard (that finally arrived) so I need to find or make some mazes for her to do. I just looked it up on Amazon and think it's the one published by School Zone Publishing Company but for some reason the image isn't showing up for that item for me. Ours is a few years old so it probably wouldn't look the same anyway. I see JumpStart has a series too.

Besides the mazes it has a page for each letter (upper and lower) - trace it and then standard school paper looking lines for them to practice. Then a picture with a word that has the letter in it and a blank spot for them to write the letter.

There's pages where they have to circle the picture that shows one more (or less) of an item. Circle a picture that goes with the big picture. Circle the matching picture or the one that doesn't match. Those types of things.

Lainey is really loving it. I never would have picked it up - thinking worksheets are rather....forced (you know like flash cards, drilling). It's certainly helping with her letter formation (which we could have done otherwise of course). The Kindergarten one says for age 4-6 so I might check that if the novelty doesn't wear off.

Helene - do you have any Pump It Ups in your area - it appears to be a chain and it was a huge hit with Lainey and friends (and the youngest age to enjoy a place like that - adults also rent it out). It's solely for parties and groups (no classes or anything) so that type of place wouldn't close for the holiday weekend. The place Lainey takes her gym class does parties - it's also a chain - My Gym but I'd call any children's gym. What about McDonalds ;) I remember when it was all the rage to have parties there when I was a kid. Oh and even places the sell play structures have parties - at least one does here. I don't think they do during the summer though. One of our parks does a park ranger party thing that sounds really cool (but it's a "smaller" number of allowed kids so not something we can do in our current climate of invite all kids/siblings) - check any parks/nature areas that has a Friends associaition (well that'd probably be outside at least part of the time, so never mind). You were looking for an active place right? There's always B&N like Susan has done (although I haven't seen that around here). What about what Heather is doing - Fire Station? I've heard of someone doing the dump too! Good luck.

Yeah Susan on getting that blasted tank out!! Good luck on a speedy sell.

Kim

[paula]

I think I may have sounded too disparaging regarding Port Discovery (wwhttp://www.portdiscovery.com/generalinfo/exhibits.html) - my kids love going there and frequently request return visits. However, we can only go with two adults. When my sister is in town, she and I will take Alex and Rachel and separately through them the climbing gym. I have a great time and enjoy the climbing nearly as much as the kids, by my DH is uncomfortable with the height and wobbliness of some of the swinging bridge structures. They use parent/child bracelets to help with the security issues, but I am not comfortable letting a 3 1/2 yr old roam independently through a 3-story structure. Maybe in a couple of years. (The other issue is the older (8-12) year old, unsupervised bullies who, in their enthusiasm, shove over the younger, more timid children....

It's funny that we are talking about Port Discovery because we may head there this weekend (weather pending). Alex and Rachel are studying "the sky" in school this week and one of their projects was to make "hot air balloons" (lunch size, decorated brown paper bag, tied at the bottom with string, and attached to a paper cup with string - the teachers hung these from the ceiling). Alex has asked to go for a ride on a hot air balloon, and Port Discovery has a hot air balloon. For some price, you can go straight up about 100 yds and then back down. DH does not have the stomach for the height, but I would love to give it a try. However, our weekend forecasts are iffy.

Paula

PS. I went to the website to add the link posted above and the climbing gym is labeled for kids age 4 and up. Curiously, I don't remember this posted anywhere near the structure, and it is in such a central and prominent location that you can't keep the younger children off of it.

[HRJ]

Kim, thanks for the info on the workbooks -- we also have some of those books where you have to match things up, or circle something that doesn't belong, etc -- I was just calling them "game books," but I guess they are the same thing as workbooks -- it just never occurred to me to use that term -- also guess I didn't pay much attention to whatever it said on the covers. I take them along when we go out to eat -- it keeps him quiet and busy until the food arrives. Victor writes letters, but I have a feeling he wouldn't much take to an activity that tried to make him write them the "correct" way, at least a this point.

Victor also liked the maze in this month's Big Backyard. We have a book called "Amazing Mazes," I think it's published by Kumon, I got it at B&N. It's for ages 3-4-5, and he loves it -- sounds like Lainey would like it too. There are a handful of mazes in there that are pretty challenging, though, even for me. :o

Thanks also for the b'day suggestions!! I checked with the B&N here, but they don't do birthday parties. Very disappointing. Someone really did a party at the dump? :confused: Around here, they truck our trash to an incinerator -- that just seems waaaaay too creepy for a party. :eek:

But, it looks like we're having a karate party. We went to the karate place yesterday after school, and Victor really liked it, and was very excited about having his party there. So I booked it for July 1. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, considering we also have to supply cake, paper products and goodie bags, but, Victor liked it; it was available for the date we needed; it's very convenient. I'm also thinking that doing this party might get Victor interested in the idea of taking karate classes -- I've heard a lot of good things about getting kids interested in karate, and it seems like it might be a good fit for Victor.

Helene

[hrk]

Helene- The Karate party sounds like a lot of fun. The kids gym where we had Logans party last year, made us supply the goody bags, paper goods etc and still charged a pretty good fee, so I can sympathize. We did big buckets of sidewalk chalk which you can get at craft stores pretty inexpensive and board books. I think we spent five dollars per kid and they really liked them.

A word of caution if anyone likes the fire station idea for birthday parties- make sure you talk to someone at the fire station and see how they run their parties. We chose a station that is further away from our home, but they have two rucks that they dedicate to the parties, so they guarantee that even if they get a call there will still be people and trucks there. Not all stations will do that.

Mrs Reber- so is the house on the market?

Kim- Logan does worksheet from books at home and loves activity books with connect the dots etec.

Paula- So is everything all set for the move in June? Did you find a job yet? Have lost of fun at the Port Discovery museum. We haven't taken Logan yet, but we look forward to it.

Well Goddard did a Muffins for Mom celebration today and brought in muffins and juice to have with your kids when you dropped them off, so LOgan and I had a muffin and juice together this morning. He also gave me his mothers day card that they made in class yesterday, it was adorable.
As for Mothers day traditions we don't really have any either, but DH knows that I do at least want a card from him and the boys.
Have a wonderful weekend and Happy MOthers Day to all the wonderful moms on this thread.
HEather

[NMG]

Helene - A karate party sounds fun!!! I bet all the kids will love it :) I think Tesa would be interested in mazes - she loves puzzles and is pretty good with matching games (one of the things they did in preschool was make up cards for memory/match up games). We haven't played with them in a few weeks, so I'll have to dig them back out for her :)
Heather - Sounds like you had a fun morning!!! Last year the moms got a little flower pot with the kids hand prints on them and then the kids painted them and planted a flower (mine had foot prints on it though because Mieky was so young at the time, she couldn't get him to do the hand print!). Not sure whats up for this year!
We don't have any Mothers Day traditions and Helene - my first mothers day was awful - DH didn't get me a card from Tesa or tell me happy mothers day and even tapped me so I would get up with Tesa (she was about 7 mo at the time) :mad: Since then he has gotten me a card and I do get to sleep in now!!! My only other request for the day is that we order pizza and use paper plates so I don't have to clean up :p

[tbb113]

Helene - the karate place sounds like it will be fun. Alex did Tae Kwon Do for 2 or 3 years (he started in kindergarten). He enjoyed it, except for the running. It does teach self-control and following directions. It is expensive at the start-up though since you need to buy the uniform and sparring gear.

Have a great mother's day everybody. I'm tentatively having my mom over for dinner, but I have a cold so I'm not sure if I want to share my germs.

[RunnerKim]

Have a great Mother's day everyone!

Helene - our tradition of planting the garden was more coincidence than anything - I think it started before I was even a mother too. It's a small raised bed garden. We always have good intentions in the beginning and then peter out. Maybe with Lainey older this summer it'll be more fun to mess around in the garden in the evenings.

Glad you found a birthday place. A co-worker of mine has a 6 year old son who thrives in his martial arts class (I don't remember which type).

DH has a B&N gift card burning a hole in his pocket so maybe I'll have him go check out maze books. I want to pick up the full version of Chicka chicka Boom Boom too - we have the board book but apparently that's only half the story! Lainey's back in to it again and they have it at school.

Lainey has been sleeping in until after 6 almost all week. Not sure what's up with that but I really hope it holds true for tomorrow (my weekend day to get up with the kids).

I ordered Lainey a couple of the more recent Land Before Time movies from the Amazon marketplace vendors. I could get them pretty cheaply and new - well apparently they're the Canadian versions. 3 different vendors and all Canadian. I'm not sure it's legal as they have a sticker in the shrink wrap saying they can only be sold in Canada. Does anyone know if it's legal? I doubt I'll go to the trouble of dealing with it but I don't want to leave (positive) feedback if it wasn't.

Kim

[MrsReber]

The house isn't on the market yet. The realtor is coming by at 3:00 today. I'm still undecided as to which realtor to go with, but this woman lives literally around the corner from us and understands our neighborhood. Also, she has kept in touch for the past month and a half and offered us help. The other realtor offered help, but pretty much disappeared from our lives when they realized we couldn't list right away. The difference in price between the realtors is 1%, which isn't that big a deal.

There are still some things we need to do in the house, but I think we can do those while it's up for sale. They're mostly small cosmetic things. I planted some flowers with the kids yesterday to give the yard some color so it'll look nicer in the picture. It's still scary to be moving, but we can't stay. I really can't stay in this neighborhood, either. I don't want to sound snooty, but I don't feel that it's a good environment for my kids.

I'm hoping the school in VA is open on the Friday before Memorial Day. We should be there and I want to stop in. Casey understands the "if's" involved in this whole process- like we still have to sell our house and we still could be stuck here. She was explaining to Brenden yesterday that we need to move so mommy can help her get ready for school each day "and that's IMPORTANT!" I keep telling her that she needs to talk to me if she has any questions about moving. She said "I'll miss the doggies." I said "the doggies are coming with us." She said "No, the doggies on my wall." She means her doggie border. It is very cute. I really do like her room here. At least she got 3 years out of it. Poor Brenden still has the nursery motif. I refused to change it until we knew if we were moving or not. He's excited about his room in VA. He says he'll miss our house here. I will, too. But change is good. I think life would be boring if we never took chances or tried anything new.

Helene, we have no Mother's Day traditions and I actually dread the day for several reasons. I try to always see my mom. DH's mom insists that he spend time with her. Already we're going in 2 different directions. If he doesn't see her, we usually get tearful phone calls about what a horrible son he is (even though she blows off DH's birthday each year). My brother is the most indecisive person I know. On my mom's birthday, he was still giving me restaurant recommendations at 2:00 in the afternoon. We were meeting for dinner at 5:30. So my brother calls me yesterday, says "I guess we can go to mom's. I'll call you back about the time." I still don't know iwhich meal we're having there and I'm usually the one who plans the food. DH never does much. He kept asking what I wanted to do. He suggested surf fishing. Okay, I like fishing, but we determined 6 years ago that surf fishing was not my thing. I don't enjoy it at all. I have a feeling that I'm going to my mom's with the kids and he'll be out surf fishing. I have to make a conscious effort to just ignore him and enjoy my day. I can't let it bother me anymore. I do get cards from the kids and their gifts from daycare. That really means more to me than anything else. DH and I usually don't see each other for most of the day. I told him I'd like to go get a haircut, get my nails done, get a massage, get a new pair of running shoes- any of the above. He says "yeah, I need a haircut, too." :rolleyes:

The workbooks I get for Casey have all different things in them. We like the jump start workbooks the best. They have pages where you fill in the missing letter or number (they'll go in order like A, B, C, _ E) We're beyond that now, though. She's doing simple math in the math workbooks. She asked for the math one at the dollar store. Then she has ones where you have to circle the correct number of items, find matching items, all sorts of stuff. She really enjoys them so I let her go to town with them. There are times when she's not interested, too. I leave it up to her. I want learning to remain fun. I never want to force it on her.

I better get going. Have to get the kids breakfast and then get ready for gymnastics. Hope everyone is having a fun weekend!!

[cchhbb]

Susan, Glad to hear the house is ready to go on the market now. I'm sure the kids have a lot of questions/uncertainity about the move. I can't imagine having to show my house now with two kids. I had a friend who would pack up her minivan with everything she could stuff in there whenever she had to show the house and then would drive around with her kids. It was so funny to run into her somewhere as she would have her car packed to the ceiling with stuff. She was trying to make her house look bigger.

Kim, I wonder if resale matters regarding the Canadian version of the movies. I think I would probably skip feedback since I wouldn't take the time to investigate the legalities of the sale.

Helene, sounds like a great place for a birthday party. Heather, I was surprised to hear the fire department does bday parties. I'll have to check with ours for the future. I think I've convienced Garrett to have a farm theme party. We bought a ton of Easter eggs on clearance and I plan on using them as a game where we will hide them in the yard and will tell the kids that the chickens got out and they need to go pick up the eggs. I had a tough time finding them, but my parents were able to the Monday after Easter. I think they bought 20 dozen. I only asked for 10. If he wants to do something else, that's okay too.

I've finally weaned Griffin last week. I'm really glad to be done nursing. Unfortunately, they want him to stay on formula for a little while longer. I was hoping to not have that expense. Additionally, they want him to stay on the expensive nutritional supplement too. He is so funny to watch. Yesterday, we were all outside and DH put him in the grass without shoes. Griffin stood like a statue. He wasn't sure he could move on the grass. If you put him on the sidewalk, he ran like crazy.

We had a huge milestone with Garrett yesterday. I had been trying to get him to ride a tricycle for the longest time. He refused to do it. I rarely could get him to even sit on one. I have been working with him for the last several weeks and he finally was willing to pedal his John Deere tractor. He was saying he was Trevor's driver. He didn't ride it very far, but he did pedal it himself! And this morning he climbed on it on the porch and started pedaling it.

Today, I am trying to clear off my very messy desk. DH has taken Garrett to Lowe's and Griffin is napping so I should be able to make some headway. I did manage to balance the checkbook within $2 already. To me that's close enough.

Have a great mother's day everyone.

Cheryl