Toddlers/Preschooler moms week of 6/26

[MrsReber]

It's been a while since I started a thread so here goes!

We got rained on. A lot. On the way to the campground, DH had to pull off the road. We couldn't even see out the windshield. Casey seemed a bit scared by it all. Brenden slept through the whole thing. We got to camp and started to unpack when the thunder and lightning came back in. After that downpour, the rain stopped. We had dinner, the kids played, we made smores, then went to sleep. I brought glow necklaces for the kids. It worked out great. They weren't scared of the dark because they had their necklaces. They made the tent pretty bright, too! It rained during the night, but we were dry inside the tent.

Sunday morning, I got up and got my shower while everyone slept. When I came back, it started raining. Got the kids ready, had breakfast and headed to Thomas (4 miles down the road) at 9:00. Well, since it rained so much, the field where we would've parked was closed! They sent us all over the place for a parking spot and then we took a bus back to the train station. We were just in time for our train ride. They were very accommodating with people who missed their ride because they understood the parking problem.

The good thing about the rain was: no bugs while camping (no mosquito bites at all!!), it wasn't really hot so we slept great, and Thomas wasn't crowded at all. Last year there was wall to wall people. This year, there were no long lines for anything. The kids didn't complain once. They had a blast and wore their raincoats the whole time. It actually worked out well! And we got a family picture in front of Thomas. I'll have to try to post it tomorrow. I downloaded my pictures from my camera and moved them to a file on my computer. Well, I didn't realize I deleted them from my camera! Now they only exist on my computer.

While I didn't expect anything for this weekend, we actually had 2 house showings yesterday. I have to catch up with our realtor today to get feedback.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend!

[HRJ]

I'm glad the rain didn't ruin your weekend, Susan -- sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I hope the two showings result in something positive - I was wondering if I was going to open this thread and find out you had an offer.

We still haven't decided if we're going to go see Thomas again. This coming Sunday and Monday (Monday is Victor's b'day), we're going up to New Hampshire, to visit a place called Storyland (http://www.storylandnh.com) . It's a huge amusement part meant for younger kids -- it's not quite Disney World, but everyone I've spoken to who has been there says it's wonderful.

This coming Saturday is Victor's birthday party -- we have 14 kids coming. Glad I decided to have it at the karate place. This weekend we had 3 (three!) birthday parties for kids in his class -- one Sat. morning, one Sat. afternoon and one Sunday. It was pretty exhausting on my end, but Vic and all the other kids had a blast going from one party to another. Two of the parties were in people's homes, and it was raining pretty hard, so everyone had to crowd inside -- the kids still had a good time, though. Then on Sunday night, the parents of Victor's friends the twins invited us over for a "mini-party" for Victor, since they're going to be away this weekend and won't get to come to Victor's birthday party.

About opening presents at the party -- I'm not sure it's entirely cultural, maybe it's regional, too -- at almost all of the birthday parties we've been to around here, they haven't opened presents, either. (I thought maybe it was because at this age, the present-opening always seems to disintegrate into total chaos -- I'm not sure what people tend to do at parties for older kids). We opened presents at Victor's birthday party last year, when he turned 4, and it was totally crazy -- DH recorded it on videotape, and I can't even bare to watch it. The funniest thing, though, is watching the little boy who lives next door to us -- he wanted to "take back" the present he brought for Victor, and you see him on the video trying to sneak off with it, and the adults keep stopping him. :D

But, I think it is strange not to have birthday cake at a birthday party -- isn't that sort of the whole point of the party? ;)

On Wednesday, I'm going into Victor's class to make ice cream with them, inspired by Becky's idea. But first, I have to find all the parts to my ice-cream machine -- my house is such a mess, I hope I can figure out where everything is!

Today we're stuck home waitng for the guy to come and install my new dishwasher -- the actual dishwasher arrived last week, and has been sitting in the middle of my living room since then. I'm getting really tired of having to maneuver around it all the time -- I want it where it's supposed to be, in the kitchen! I told Victor that maybe we could go to the playground after the dishwasher guy comes, but it looks like it's going to rain again. <sigh>

Helene

[LA98]

Susan, I was thinking about you when we were leaving PA on Saturday -- in that torrential downpour! We lucked out with the weather, it was overcast all day Friday, so we didn't roast in the sun at Thomas, and also on Saturday when we were at Dutch Wonderland (kids amusement park). It started to pour around 5:30 when we were getting ready to leave the park. We had a lot of fun. Brian loved Thomas (he stated repeatedly for days that Percy and James would be there too. We told him they'd be busy working on their branch lines, but thank goodness they had an air-filled Percy! :) :rolleyes: ) The amusment park was a lot of fun too, very family friendly obviously -- the thing we loved most was that there was a bathroom everywhere you looked. We had to get out of line a bunch of times to get him to the potty. (He did great, no accidents all weekend!) We also loved the motel where we stayed. It had a great playground, a small petting zoo area, and a koi pond where he fed the fish, he just loved that.

Helene, my best friend lives in Shrewsbury, they take the kids to Storyland every year. You'll have a great time. The karate party sounds great. I'm trying to plan Brian's, I think we'll invite a couple of kids from his school, which we've never done before.

I didn't get to really read the whole thread last week -- Brian had a raging ear infection that kept him out of school for two days before we left for PA --but I saw that Julia posted and I just wanted to say hi and glad that you're doing well!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Lori

[MrsReber]

No offers yet, Helene! The first couple liked the house, but they're worried about the new tax assessment. We have no idea what the new taxes will be and the town told us we won't see anything until December of this year! So those people are going to have to wait another 6 months if they want to know what the property taxes will be going forward. However, the way this state is going, we'll be in better shape than most other towns.

I knew the second couple wouldn't like our house. They were at an open house for a $450k house! They told the realtor "we really can't afford anything over $300k" then they tell her what they're looking for - 2 bathrooms, nice neighborhood, full basement, garage. Ha ha ha ha. Lori, you know the NJ market. Where are they going to find all that for $300k unless they go WAY far south of here? Apparently, the woman also didn't like our next door neighbor. I told our realtor "well, they're in for a rude awakening if they think they're getting the nice yard and beautiful house for $300k in NJ!" She agreed.

About opening presents, I can only remember 2 parties we went to where they opened presents. One was at a house. The second one, the mom really thought it'd be nice if her daughter opened the gifts and could personally thank her friends. Plus, most of the kids left already so it was just a small group left. My kids never open theirs, either. I can understand it. When you have a party out somewhere, it's usually at a place that does 10 parties a day so they move you through pretty quickly- playing, pizza, cake, then out the door. It doesn't leave much time for present opening. Helene, I agree, what's a party without cake??

Lori, that downpour at 5:30 is the one we were standing in! The kids were in the truck, at least. Casey was scared of the thunder so she sat in the truck coloring. Brenden joined her. DH and I were outside under a tarp that he put up. Well, it didn't hold up under the weight of the rain! I couldn't believe how much rain fell in that short period of time. The ground sure soaked it up, though. My friend lives in PA (Saylorsburg) and she recommended Dutch Wonderland. We've seen the signs, but we never went there. My friend says they stay at an inn (Bird in Hand, maybe??). She has 2 kids, one Casey's age and one around 7.

My kids were glad to see the blow up Percy, too! I had to take a picture of them in front of it. Then Casey had to take a picture of Brenden in front of it with her digital camera. She's great with that camera. Casey said "I bet Thomas is tired from pulling all these cars all day." Did you try the cranky cars? Casey and Brenden went on them 3 times. They loved it. Casey was trying to ram Brenden the last time they went around the track. I had to laugh, though. When they got to the end, Brenden stopped to get off. Casey was trying to ram his car again, but the girl on the side of the track stopped her. What a trouble maker!

Just this past week, Casey is giving me a hard time with everything. She's usually the easier child to deal with. Now she complains and cries in an effort to get her way. We picked up ice cream last night on the way home. She wanted to eat it that minute. I told her she could have some after dinner. She sulked for over an hour and she even told me "if you just give me the ice cream, I'll stop complaining." I told her "it doesn't work that way. You can complain all you like, you won't get your way." She tried it earlier in the week with dinner. I made pizza and when dinner was ready, she said "Mommy, I'm having spongebob macaroni and cheese." I told her no, this is what I made and it's what we're having. Then I said if she wanted mac and cheese, she could have the 4 minute microwave kind. She refused. She only wanted Spongebob. This went on for over an hour. She even started crying. I told her she had 2 choices- either eat dinner or go get in the shower and go to bed hungry. she finally relented. She got up, ate her pizza and got in the shower, as if nothing had happened. So frustrating! I don't know what happened to my good little girl! I refuse to give in to any of this. She knows better.

Well, back to work for me. I'm working from home- snuck out to pick up a few things at the store. Seems like it'll be a slow week at work. I have 3 retirement breakfasts to go to. I think we have had over 400 people retire so far this year. So many more aren't on the official list because they're deciding at the last minute. July 1st is the cutoff for eligible people to retire with full healthcare. After that, people will have to pay for their own coverage. There's been a steady stream of people leaving since January. And no replacements for any of them.

[LA98]

LOL, Susan, about almost everything you posted: My parents live right next to Saylorsburg (have you been to the flea market there?), we stayed at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn, and Brian LOVED the cranky cars -- as soon as he got off he ran to get back onto the line to do it again! I've got a picture of him on them with this huge smile on his face. And yeah, these days $300K won't even get you a small house with no yard... :rolleyes:

And sympathy for you about Casey: Brian is a difficult child normally, but lately he's been having some really fierce tantrums to get his way. When I remarked one time to a friend about the terrible twos, she said wait till you see the terrible threes. I think I get it now! :(

[HRJ]

Do I hear you both on the obnoxious behavior thing! Victor, too, has been particularly whiney lately -- I ask him, "Why do you think that being unpleasant will help you get what you want? The more unpleasant you are, the less people will want to help you." (Yeah, I know, you're not supposed to try and "reason" with kids, but I can't help it. :rolleyes: ).

Helene

[RunnerKim]

We haven't been to a party where gifts were opened either. I think it's part of the trend of having parties away from home - there's simply not enough time allotted to open gifts. I think it's a good thing. No cake though...I'm pretty sure Lainey would not think it was actually a birthday if there wasn't a cake with a candle(s).

Helene - that's a lot of kids.

We're skipping Thomas this year (he's here in another week or so). I was tempted but DH wanted to skip this year and go next year when Jamie's older. Hope Lainey's still in to Thomas next summer. I don't think we get all the fun stuff that you guys talk about - bumper cars?! Lainey did ask if she could ride on James instead so that would be cool if there was a big Percy to see too.

It's been very hot here - 102 yesterday. Ugh. We do have a window a/c unit in our bedroom so we can actually sleep (we splurged on that last year). Over the weekend we went to my sister's apartment pool both afternoons. Today is only suppose to be 87 or something (still on the hot side IMO) but it didn't cool down much last night so I think it's still going to be a very hot afternoon. The bus we take is rarely air conditioned (we get the older model on our route for some reason). Last evening we got out the little kiddie pool and Lainey (and eventually Jamie) were having a great time splashign around in it.

We try to nip that whiny thing in the bud (it's the one thing that really drives DH crazy) but Lainey has been doing it more than usual lately too. Maybe it's the heat.

Susan - sorry you had so much rain for your camping trip!
Helene - our paper had an article/feature this weekend about going camping for the first time and I thought of you ;) Less is s'more (http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/travel/1150761350105890.xml?oregonian?trxs&coll=7)

Lori - hope Brian's ears are better now.

Jamie might have something going on with his ears - I thought it was teething - drooling, off and on bad mood, waking up at night crying, chewing on things more, decreased appetite (sporadically) but his teacher told me that canines don't normally come in until around 2 yrs - he has everything else. He's been early on his other teeth but he's only 14 months. So now I'm wondering if it could be his ears - he had a suprise double ear infection at his 1 year appointment. I'm just waiting and seeing at this point - he's normally such a happy, easy-going kid that it's quite shocking when he's not (but again its not like he's irritable all the time).

It was pretty neat yesterday afternoon - the kids were playing together. Jamie had gone behind Lainey, who was sitting in a webbing-style deck chair. He poked her. Instead of her getting all bent out of shape about it, she started grabbing at his finger and they played back and forth. Too cute - there's hope!

Kim

[LaraW]

Hi everyone-

Helene, that is a lot of kids. Congrats on the new dishwasher. I love new appliances ;)

Lori, glad Brian had a good time with Thomas. Hope he is feeling better. That is tough.

Susan, glad you had a good weekend and the rain didn't ruin it. Please send the rain to CO. We really need it.

Kim, cute about Lainey grabbing Jamie's finger and playing with it. There is hope yet :)

We had a nice but very busy weekend. Colin was baptised on Sunday, and my sister is his godmother. She came on Friday and then my parents and IL's came on Saturday. The weather was nice on Friday - a little hot for my taste but still nice, but it was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday and Sunday. We sat outside on the deck for most of the afternoon both days.

Natalie is doing great with underwear. She has yet to do #2 in the potty and is still having some poop accidents, but is very consistently peeing on the potty. She used the bathroom at the zoo, the library and a restaurant we ate at the other night. We're still having some issues with her not wanting to use the potty at daycare, but we're working on it. I think she's getting to the point where she is more willing to use a strange bathroom to avoid having an accident.

DH is taking his first test for his architectural license this weekend. He is pretty nervous, it sounds like, and he is consdering postponing for a week. I'm against that idea - I think he needs to jsut go take it. If he fails, he will have to pay to take it again ($100) and wait 6 months, and that's why he wants to postpone, but I think that he will pass it.

I better run - talk to you later!

[MrsReber]

Lara, good luck to your DH! That's great. I wish my DH did that- he told me his mom encouraged him to become an architect because of his mechanical drawing abilities. maybe there's still hope for him!

Helene, I just found out 2 minutes ago that my sister's friends are adopting a baby boy from Guatemala! I thought of you right away. I know they were having trouble having a baby- the wife had at least one miscarriage that I know of. Anyway, I'm so thrilled for them! My sister just happends to be coming up to visit (she's flying up tonight with her kids) so she'll be able to go to the shower. Can you think of anything that I could send with her to the shower for the parents to be? I have known my sister's friends for quite a few years and would love to give them a gift. I don't know how old the boy is and I don't know any of the details. I imagine they'll be bringing him home soon, though. I wish I could go to the shower, but I think Casey has a pool party at that same time. It's a pre-k graduation party! I think that's a bit over the top, but still, it's a pool party and I know the kids will have fun. Casey is very into swimming lately.

Kim, I believe the cranky cars are always at the Strasburg train station. We got to ride them for free (well, the kids rode them!) because we bought Thomas tickets. They're not bumper cars- Casey just took it upon herself to ram her brother while she was driving behind him! They sit in the cars and "crank" them with their hands. I'll see if I can post a picture of them. I couldn't seem to get my pictures uploaded to image station last time I tried. If I have any luck today, I'll post a couple.

[MrsReber]

here's us in front of Thomas- it's a little weird looking because it's a picture of a picture- I have to get more prints made. We only got the small photo packages- a 5x7 and 4 wallets.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p01e9ac68345d24b25194a5c7878a3787/ee49453c.jpg


If this works, here are the cranky cars, with Casey driving behind Brenden. This is where the girl stopped her from ramming him again:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p49c1ba53c2df2c379552bcebc8c42d80/ee49452b.jpg

and, although a little blurry, here's my camping family:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/pe8a53d8d1a65cba5be8febf15c8e7617/ee49451b.jpg

[LA98]

Susan, I love your pictures! Especially the one in the rain at the campsite. Here's Brian on the cranky cars:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p7844f71d4d4a0a372e8bc647aca24c5f/ee476dca.jpg

Kim, how are Jamie's ears? Is it still that hot by you? We've had so much rain here I think we're just going to all float away.

Lara, good luck to your DH with his test.

Lori

[MrsReber]

Lori, I loved the cranky cars. I wish I could set up a track in my yard. My kids would be on them forever.

Yeah, the family is just a wee bit wet in the camping picture, but notice the fire is still going! DH is my outdoor man. I think he was even surprised that it didn't die out in the rain. While the rain was pouring down and DH finally came into the truck with the rest of the family, he yelled "S**t! How am I going to get another fire going now?" When the rain let up, he went back out and then came back to the truck. As he was getting in, Casey said "Oh, s**t, Daddy got all wet again!" I had to look the other way so she wouldn't see me laughing. I told her that wasn't a nice thing to say. She knew exactly which word I was talking about. DH also got in trouble.

Graduation is tonight! Casey is very excited. They're doing some kind of special presentation. they asked for baby pictures back in April. I have no idea what the presentation is, but we all get our own DVD at the end of the ceremony, when we hand in the cap and gown. I'm sure all the moms will be crying. I hate that! I was never so emotional before I had children. Now I just seem to feel everything so much more deeply than ever before.

Off to the last retirement breakfast (at least for this week!)

[HRJ]

Susan and Lori, those pictures are great! Those cranky cars look like a lot of fun.

Lara, good luck to your DH on his exam -- I imagine the further away you get from college, the harder it is to prepare and sit for a major exam. A few years ago, my DH started working toward a particular certification in his field, but he isn't even close to being ready to take the exam.

Susan, that's exciting about your sister's friend -- hope she's able to bring her son home soon! Since you don't know the child's age, I'd go with a gift certificate, maybe for BRU -- as you know, when kids are so young, the stuff they need changes so quickly. When we brought Victor home (he was 24 months), we got some gifts that were meant for much younger kids/babies -- I was so exhausted and overwhelmed at that point, I never even bothered to exchange any of the stuff; later on, I just ended up donating it to our school district's PTO thrift store.

Or, you could get a gift certificate for a family/casual restaurant, particularly one that has carry-out, like Chili's, or for someplace local that delivers. When we brought Victor home, it didn't occur to anyone that we might need some help with meals, just like all other new parents. Maybe if this couple has family nearby, it might not be so much of an issue, but I know that's one thing I definitely would have appreciated.

Or, if you'd like to give them a book, there's a lovely little volume of essays and short stories called "A Love Like No Other," edited by Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe, that's about adoption -- they probably won't have enough time to be reading once their child comes home, but it might be something nice for them while they're waiting.

For kids' books, I like "We Wanted You," by Liz Rosenberg -- it's probably more for a 4-5 year old kids, not a baby/toddler book, but they could always hold onto it for later. It's the only adoption book I've come across so far that's about a boy from Latin America -- most of the kids' books are about girls from China. There's also "Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies," by Ann Warren Turner, which is about a boy from Asia -- very, very sweet story --I have a hard time reading it to Victor because it makes me cry. (Talk about experiencing intense emotions). If you want a baby book, there's a board-book version of "I Love You Like Crazycakes," by Rose Lewis, which is sort of the "classic" adoption book for young kids.

Oh, I know -- something that we all loved when Victor was little (and still like), is a CD called "Latin Lullaby" by Ellipsis Arts -- it's a compilation of lullabies in Spanish, and it's incredibly beautiful. Victor still likes to listen to it sometimes when he goes to sleep (whenever that is ... :rolleyes: )


Congrats on Casey's graduation! Our day-care doesn't do any sort of "graduation" activities, but tonight is supposed to be the annual "start-of-summer" picnic -- but it looks like it's going to pour any minute. Wonder if they'll move it indoors into the gym? Before the picnic, they have short parent/teacher conferences.


Yesterday was Victor's birthday celebration at day-care. I came in and made ice cream with the kids - Becky, if you're lurking, thanks for the great idea! It went very well -- while the ice cream machine was working, I read them the Frog and Toad story called "Ice Cream" and then the kids had a "dance party" to the "Victor Vito" CD. After 30 minutes the ice cream was still pretty soft, but I was able to scoop out enough for them all to have a taste, and then I gave out those little chocolate/vanilla ice-cream cups (called "Hoodsies" here in New England) so that they could have a "real" snack.


Wednesday night, we had a minor flood in our basement -- one of the rubber hoses attached to the washing machine came detached while I was doing a load of wash (it was the hose that leads the used water to the drain). There was water all over our laundry room, family room and furnace room floor, and it's *so* damp and humid around here, I was afraid it would never dry out! Good thing we own a wet-vac, and have AC in the basement. Took yesterday afternoon off from work and spent it cleaning up -- what a mess! First, my dishwasher dies, and then the washing machine rebels -- I kept telling DH, "my appliances hate me!"

Helene

[MrsReber]

Helene, thanks so much for the ideas! I was looking for something a little different, like the books or the cd. My sister said that this baby was born on December 3rd. Sounds like he's not coming "home" until September, though. Well, it's not that far off. My sister got a call from the new mom's cousin. The cousin said the baby is 25 lbs already!?!? I sure hope not! That has to be a mistake! Anyway, I really like the book ideas- thanks so much!

Sounds like Victor's party at school went very well! I like the Victor Vito dance party. Very cute. I need to make some ice cream.

And thanks to (I think it was Heather?) who suggested putting my email address on the party invitations. I remembered to put them on Brenden's invitations and I got 2 responses already!

[RunnerKim]

Susan - those are great photos and ahhh now I know what cranky cars are. We don't have fun stuff like that at our location - it's a regular "train station" for a specialty dinner train that goes through the Gorge area so there's not much in the way of kids activities there.

Congrats to Casey - have fun tonight.

Lara - good luck to your DH.

Helene - what a pain to have your hose come off. Glad you were able to get the water cleaned up. That happened to us too but fortunately we caught it right after it happened.

Lori - well I guess it wasn't his ears; or it cleared up on its own. He's been back to his normal happy self for the past couple of days.

The heat is much better now, although i've heard some reports saying it'll be back in to the lower 90s this weekend. The heat does have its uses - the kids have been having a great time in the little kiddie pool.

Lainey was proud of herself - she counted to 100 this morning. She needs some help knowing which word to say fo the 10s (i.e., 50, 60, 70). I was impressed to that she'd figured out that it was the same pattern once you hit 20.

I think tomorrow on our way home we'll stop and pick up some small fireworks - sparklers, those ones that spin around and make the triangle shapes that change through 3 colors. My sister's boys are with their dad so I don't see keeping Lainey (& Jamie up) so late to see any of the shows - although we could probably watch some East Coast stuff on TV at a decent time for her.

Kim

[LaraW]

Helene, I think you're right that the further away from college you get, the harder it is to study for this kind of thing. Unfortunately, this is only the first part. There are 8 more to go after this one :eek: I think we'll be in this routine for the better part of the next year to year and a half. Its good, though and will be worth it in the end for DH to have his license.

Susan, congratulations to Casey. What a big step for her :)

Kim, I'm envious of you using sparklers, etc for the 4th of July. They have just in the last couple of days banned all fireworks, including sparklers because the fire danger is so high. We need some of that rain that the East coast is getting!

I am so ready for this week to be over. Since DH has been studying, I have had more kid-duty and house-duty than usual and I am so tired.

Does it seem like 2 year olds can sense when you're in a hurry and just poke along getting things done? Yesterday Colin was needing to be fed, and Natalie was poking along eating her lunch, going to the bathroom, and then she wanted me to read to her before nap. Colin was screaming his head off. Then, this morning I'm trying to get everyone out the door to school and work, and she's putting her right shoe on over her left shoe. :rolleyes: When I tell her to get a move on, she looks at me and says "hi". :mad: I have just started ignoring it and keep with my message of trying to get her to do whatever.

[cchhbb]

I am convinced that things that happen on this BB are catching. Helene, I have spent much of the day cleaning up water from my washing machine outlet too. Unfortunately, my laundry room is on the first floor of the house and the water seeped through the floor into the crawlspace. That's where I have stored all the Christmas decorations. I just spent an hour cleaning that area up. Fortunately, most of the decorations were stored in plastic containers so it could have been much, much worse.

Griffin is currently fighting his afternoon nap. He's screaming his head off now. I think he would like to go to one nap, but he's just not ready yet. On days he takes one nap, he's just so cranky.

Garrett and I both have a terrible cold with a cough. We've both had a tough time sleeping at night. Poor kid. As soon as I lay down, I immediately start coughing. So far Griffin hasn't caught it.

Lara, I know Garrett has mastered the art of stalling. Yesterday, we had to leave the house at 8:15 and he didn't wake up until 7:45. I had everything ready to go, but he was really slow getting his breakfast eaten. Next year at school, he will eat breakfast at school so that should make things easier.

Garrett remembered how to swim last weekend. He's now jumping off the side of the pool to you and can swim back to the steps with a little help. Griffin is a crazy little boy who loves to go under water. I haven't taken the boys to the pool by myself this week since I have't felt well, but I think I may today. DH is playing golf after work.

I love the cranky cars. We're taking the boys to the train station on the way to our vacation. We get to visit the works and see the turntable during the trip.

Susan, Congratulations for Casey.

Kim, is Jamie talking much? I'm just curious since Griffin has about 7 words that he has used, but only really uses a couple of them consistently. Garrett was such an early talker that I can't compare the two. I know Garrett was saying more than 25 words at 12 months and started early sentences by 14 months.

Garrett is doing well at speech. His therapist thinks that he probably has the vocabulary of a early teenager. I was shocked. She'd like to test him, but thinks that it would take too much time. His pragmatic speech has improved so much too. He is still having some trouble with fine motor skills like holding scissors.

My IL's were here for about 5 days. The trip went okay, but I was glad for them to go. MIL was very critical about Garrett's behavior and I didn't even think he was that bad. She never did try to play with him and only read him one book during the entire time. It ended up raining most of the time that they were here so we were stuck in the house much of the time. FIL and DH did build most of the kitchen cabinets. DH now only has to build the island and the cabinets will be finished. Then the fun of finishing them and installing them will start.

Cheryl

[RunnerKim]

Cheryl - Jamie's not really saying any words. Maybe Mama. He's very good at communicating though - using either signs or pointing (his teachers have mentioned it several times). His teacher is convinved he could communicate with dolphins (he squeeks). I should go back and look at when Lainey started saying words...I wonder if he's "late." I love that he's able to follow simple directions now too (and at least for now seems to be willing to follow them).

He is however down to 1 nap and has been for months so I was surprised when you mentioned that. Daycare certainly influences that but I recall him dropping his morning nap much earlier than Lainey. And he's gone without a nap at all two days while we were camping. Lainey's been complaining about taking a nap for awhile now - I've told her when Jamie turns 2 she can stop (she'll be 4.5). She always falls asleep if we have her lay down (although she is okay if she skips it too).

Glad Garrett got his "fins" back and is having a blast at the pool.

Kim

[MrsReber]

Fireworks are illegal in NJ (and have been for many years) so Lara, I feel for you! You can buy them out of state, but they claim this year they're going to crack down on people bringing them over the state border. Personally, I think it's just a way for the state to make more money since they're in such a bind. I have to check the news today to see if we're having a government shut down. I have a feeling we will. The new budget is extremely controversial because of the new tax hikes. But anyway, we always thought the law was kind of dumb. They say how dangerous fireworks are and how many injuries there are each year. I asked DH when the state would ban cars since we know of 3 fatal accidents in the area just in the past week.

Graduation was cute. The kids sang a bunch of songs, one in Spanish and one in sign language. The kids all got a fake diploma on stage. When I went to pick Casey's diploma up, they realized they gave it to the wrong family. The family, of course, left quickly so we couldn't catch them. Casey was sad. All her cousins on my side of the family were there. My brother thought the ceremony was a bit over the top- it probably was, but the kids had fun. Casey loved being on stage. Afterwards we all went for ice cream.

Cheryl, wow- that's some vocabulary Garrett has! I know what you mean about comparisons. Casey was able to write her name before she was 3. Brenden is still working on his name. They're both bright kids, but they aquire different skills at different times. DH's co-worker gave us some addition and subtraction flashcards. Casey immediately took them out and started playing teacher with Brenden. I imagine he'll start learning math concepts now. Casey cheats and looks at the answers because she's the "teacher."

Well, I better get ready. I want to pick up a couple of gift cards for some teachers at Goddard and stop by there quick. Brenden's teacher is retiring. The kids just adore her. Today is her last day. I wasn't going to do anything for Casey's teacher, but she went out of her way to get graduation gifts for the kids. I sort of feel like we should do something for her.

Oh, Helene, the daycare gave us the schedule for July. The Jenkinson's penguins are going to visit the school in a couple of weeks! I thought of you!

[HRJ]

Penguins! Cool! :cool:

Fireworks are illegal in Mass., too. What annoys me -- this relates to Kim's comment about having Lainey watch the East Coast fireworks on TV -- is that the Boston fireworks on the Esplanade (the ones following the Boston Pops concert) used to be fired off at dusk. (We can see them pretty well from a park near my house -- we're pretty close to the city, and the park is on hill, so good view). But a couple of years ago, they moved it to 10:30 p.m., so that they'd get a better TV audience nationwide -- that's just too late for us to be out, even with The Boy Who Never Sleeps.

Cheryl, I can't believe that you had the same issue with the washing machine :eek: Believe me, I feel your pain! Glad that your decorations were in plastic containers and none of them got ruined. I ended up throwing out a lot of junk that had been sitting on the floor -- probably all for the best, I guess. The trashmen are not going to be happy with us today, though -- you should see the pile of stuff in front of the house.

Here's a quick, off-topic question: What do you call the stuff you leave out in cans in front of your house, and the people who take it away? When I lived in the NJ/NY area, I always called it "garbage" and the people who picked it up were "garbagemen" (or garbagewomen, I guess.) Here in New England, it's "trash" and "trashmen." One day I told Victor to put something in the garbage, and he seemed puzzled -- I pointed to the basket under the sink, and he said, "Oh, that's the trash!"

Kim, glad that Jamie is back to his usual happy self.

Cheryl, glad you survived your IL visit, and that Garrett is doing so well with the speech therapy.

Lara, yes, 2-year-olds have this incredible "in-a-hurry" radar. There was a huge period in my life when I kept repeating to myself something that Kim once wrote: "Sometimes you just have to sit on your kid to get their shoes on." (Or something close to that).

The rain came and went yesterday, so it they had the day-care picnic outside -- it was really nice. Most of the other kids' parents are very, very nice -- I'm going to miss the little social network that has developed.

Tomorrow is Victor's birthday party -- all I really have to do is put the goody bags together. We're having a Buzz Lightyear theme -- we also have to supply the papergoods at the karate place, so I got Buzz paper plates and napkins, and the cake (from a bakery) will have Buzz decorations. This bakery is particularly well-known for great kids' cakes -- last year, we had a Thomas cake, and it included a little wind-up Thomas train on a track that went around the edge of the cake! Can't wait to see what they do for Buzz.

Helene

[RunnerKim]

LOL Helene - glad it's not your signature quote though! Hang in there Lara - it does get better with age - the testing/taking control comes out in different ways. At least it has for us. Lainey puts her shoes & shocks completely by herself about 80% of the time without "too much" nagging. The other 20% I'll help her but it's not a sit-on her struggle.

Firework legality varies by county here. I'm pretty sure they're not legal in the Multnomah county (which covers most of the Portland proper) - we live on just the edge of the city and in another county. Since there's a firworks tent in the grocery store parking lot, I'm assuming they're legal. I know neighbors let off some pretty big ones last year. There's a time limit - for a couple of days after the 4th (or maybe through the weekend after) or something like that. It gets old.

I really don't get fireworks on tv - let along scheduling a fireworks display for television viewing. In person they can be quite amazing I think but they lose a lot of impact on television. My parents often do new years fireworks because they live ruraly but it's too dry in the summer and the concern about starting a fire is high. But in the winter there's a nice blanket of snow on the ground and roof.

The washing machine virus mutated and our garbage disposal went caput last night. Lainey also managed to lock the downstairs bathroom door; fortunately it has a hole in the knob so DH was able to get it open with a small screwdriver.

We have a whole new reason to call Jamie "Goat Boy" (DH called him that after he consumed some questionable items) - last night he was so purposefully annoying his sister. She was trying to get dressed for dinner after having her swimsuit on to play in the backyard. He goes behind her and grabs hair in both his hands and pulls it up (like devil horns) and then when I detangle him from that he goes around her and grabs her underwear laid out on the floor and throws it across the room - I go to get it and he grabs her shorts. Lainey responds so well to Jamie trying to "get her goat" that I fear it's going to be a long term issue. Jamie was harassing a 2.5 year old the other morning (he was in the baby room b/c his brother had been dropped off there and didn't want to go to his room yet) - boy was in super crabby mood and Jamie took great interest in poking him and getting a response out of this poor kid (until Jamie was lured to another part of the room and the boy was directed to return to his classroom if he didn't want to interact with the babies).

Kim

[cchhbb]

Kim, I so wish that Jamie and Griffin could be pals. They seem so much like the same child. Only Griffin is much smaller. :o Griffin loves to pick on Garrett. Garrett pretty much ignores him, but sometimes I just wish that Garrett would get angry with him. Usually he just passively pushes him away.

Sorry to hear about your garbage disposal. Mine went out a couple of years ago when DH was out of town. I bought a new one and had it waiting for him when he got home. I thought it was a great present.

Helene, I discovered that my washer hose didn't break. Griffin decided that it was fun to squeeze behind the washer and take the hose out of the outlet. I told DH that he has a project for this weekend to make sure little Griffin can't take it out anymore.

BTW, I use both garbage and trash. Around here I think most people call it trash.

Garrett's stalling is in getting dressed usually. He also uses going potty quite well. When he's getting dressed he often has to make about 5 potty breaks with a book before he can finally manage to get changed out of his pjs and into clothes for the day. Shoes is easier now that he got some Thomas sandals.

We are leaving on vacation with my family the week after July 4th. I really need to start getting things ready for it.

Talk to you all soon.
Cheryl