PreK/Preschool Thread week of Dec 11

[hrk]

Hi everyone-
Well so much for my quiet week. Tuesday I started coughing and by Thursday it was so bad I couldn't talk or sleep and would gag myself often. So Friday I hit the doctor and she told me it is just a virus that has to run it's course, but did give me some cough medicine with codine to help me sleep. So that is what I have been doing a lot of.
But big news in our house Ari started crawling on Saturday. He has been scooting for a while, but he didn't cover much ground, it was just to get to a toy. Now he is truly crawling and by Sunday he was getting around pretty well. Logan has been OK with it, but is quickly learning that if he doesn't want Ari in something he has to play with it up on a table.

Susan- What did you decide to do about the dreamcatcher? I agreee with the others that it was nice to see a parents actually being involved and there being a consequence.

Helene- How is Victor feeling? I hear you about the summer camp. We decided to keep Logan at Goddard for camp one more summer, purely for selfish reasons, the convenience of having them both in one place and one last year before I have to start with all the scheduling. Plus The nice things is he will be four by this summer so he will actually get to go on the field rips they have and that should be fun for him.

Kim- That is great that you are investing so much time helping your nephews with reading as well. Logan always bargains with us for more stories and recently he has started "reading "the books to himself. It is fun listening to the stories he tells

Joanne- How did the floors turn out? Did you enjoy your night in the hotel?

Sarah- Sorry to hear about your ordeal with JC Penny. Thie photo company did our photots at the boy's daycare this past year and they were awful. They took like one shot of each child and that was it. I have not heard good things about their studio either.

Lara- How did the birthday party go? What did you decide to do about the free time? I hope Natalie had a wonderful time.
As for your question about private school, I certainly don't mind you asking. We actually get asked quite often since our county schools are very highly rated. But the two big reaasons we are choosing private school for Logan are, teacher to student ratio- all three school are a ratio of 10:1 and sometimes even smaller for math and reading, and the private schools still offer a wealth of other subjects during the day. Logan will have PE everyday, he will have science, art, music, library and other specialties 2-3 times a week and that is really important to me. So that is pretty much why we made our decision for Logan.

Hope everyone has a great week.
Heather

[Molli526]

Heather-

You bring up some good points about private school. I think around here, PE is only offered once a week, and recess only once a day.

Congrats on Ari crawling. We aren't there yet with Henry and I am pretty sure Charles will catch on quickly like Logan.

Charles is still going strong with the potty. We are pretty happy about it :)

Lara - Hope the party was fun!

[JoanneOR]

Molli, I read your post on last week's thread - yea!! on Charles with the potty! How old is he? I'm sure it will be nice to only have one in diapers!

My kids go to the public school. We looked at both public and private and in our case we felt the public had more to offer than the private. They were both good schools, but financial concerns did come into play. If we felt the private was better, we would have made it work somehow. I think the boys only had PE twice a week last year, but now it's every day. Heather, that teacher to student ratio sounds great - I can see why you made that decision. It's really tough to decide the best thing to do. Right now I'm stressing about which high school to send Jameson to. I know it's still three and half years away, but the public school we are in the district for doesn't have such a great reputation. There are some excellent private schools nearby, though. But, pretty expensive. We'll see.

Lara, did you survive the birthday party? ;) I'm sure the kids had a blast!

We finally got the kids' rooms back together after the floors were done. The fumes were really bad Friday - we all stayed at a hotel about four blocks away. Poor Tully had to go stay overnight at the vet's. But, she seemed fine when we picked her up. The kids went swimming and had fun, so it was a little vacation for them. Now, the kids are using the floors as skating rinks, sliding all over in their socks. :rolleyes:

[JoanneOR]

Me again..

Julia, if you're reading, I have a question for you. Colin is doing a Christmas around the world project and he has Russia. We already did the written report, but now he needs to bring in something that represents a Russian custom at Christmas. It can be either a food or craft, something like that. I'm really not sure what to do for it. Nothing really jumps out at me that we could do from what we read for the project. Do you have any ideas? He's in 2nd grade. Is there any traditional foods that the kids would like? I'm better at cooking (or buying something!) than doing a crafty thing! Thanks for any help! It's due on the 21st, so we have some time.

[Molli526]

Joanne- Glad to hear the kids like the new skating rink ;)

Charles will be 2 1/2 on the 21st. We were so ready to wait until this summer to potty train but welcome this coming out of nowhere, with the help of my mom who didn't even know it :) Today he had an accident, but DH and I didn't move fast enough to get him to the potty. New house rule - sit on the potty before dinner :p

[LaraW]

Well, we survived the party :) We had a total of 13 kids, 4 babies and I lost count of how many adults. :eek: The party was scheduled for 2 hours, and it could have been a 1/2 hour shorter, but it worked out fine.

As it turned out, we didn't need to have a craft. :o I made DH cut butterflies out of paper and then cut out shapes, etc to glue on but the kids were so excited to play at the museum we didn't even get them out.

Here is a picture of the cake; I was up until 1:00 in the morning doing it.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid220/p902f802052f289e2aeac151588352e53/eba90c11.jpg

And, here is Natalie eating her cake. I looked at the one of her when she's about to blow out her candles, and she has a very strange expression on her face.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid220/pd5a9de70f0c76a526b3b530d53ab89c2/eba9013e.jpg

[LaraW]

OK, now back to my regular post :)

Joanne, glad the kids are enjoying their new skating rink ;) I think we're going to try and get our floors done next summer.

Molli, congrats on the potty success. That's great to have one getting out of diapers.

Heather, all great points about private school, with PE etc. Do any of the schools you are looking at have a religious aspect, or is religious education in addition to what you're looking at?

Well, I stopped over at Goddard last week to pay Natalie's tuition and asked where Colin was on their waiting list for the 1yo room, and they have an opening starting January 1. :) It will be nice to have both kids in the same place again. I called our current place today and let them know. I am really sad about leaving there, but I think this is best for our family.

I am hoping that I'll be able to finish the majority of my holiday shopping this week and get packages in the mail on Thursday morning. My office Christmas party is on Thursday afternoon, so I want to be done with this stuff by then ;)

I need to head to bed, talk to you later.

[hrk]

Lara- That is a great cake, and it looks like Natalie enjoyed it. And isn't it nice to be over prepared with activities and not need them rather than the other way around.

Molli- Logan potty trained at 2 1/2 and never looked back. Yes we had a few accidents, but like you said, often times it was us not moving fast enough. Plus we did pullups at night for a while and just called them his "special nightime underwear" and when he started staying dry and stopped using them. I would say if Charles is indicating he is ready go for it.

Joanne- I hear you about finances playing a role. Private school will definitely mean a commitment financially by DH and I, but we feel it is worth it.
Lara- One of the schools we are looking at is Quaker, which means they have "silent meetings" once a week, but that is the extent of the religious education. The jewish day school in the area is very well regarded, but it doesn't start until kindergarten and they get a ton of holidays which would be difficult for me and DH with working full time.

Well I am finally starting to feel better, but I know I beeter not push it or I will be back where I started. The boys have been doing very well with Mom being sick and Logan has been making sure I take my medicine and tucking me in at night.
Heather

[HRJ]

Wow, Lara, that is some pretty cake. Glad to hear that the party went well -- now you can save all those butterfly cutouts for some rainy/snowy winter afternoon when you're trapped in the house.

Glad to hear you've got a spot for Colin at Goddard -- I'm sure it will make life a little easier.

Molli, great news about Charles and the potty! I can't believe he's 2 1/2 already -- it seems like he was just born! (I'm sure you feel that way, too.) The pictures of both of your boys over on the photo thread are adorable.

Joanne, glad the whole floor refinishing thing went well. When we lived in our old house in NJ, DH and a friend of his refinished our downstairs floors themselves, because at the time we just couldn't afford to do it any other way. It was a lot of work -- and then, we were stupid enough to think that we could stay in the house right after they were finished, since our bedroom was on the second floor, and all the work was done on the first floor. OMG, did that stink!

Heather, glad to hear you're feeling better -- what you have sounds similar to what Victor had last week.

I'm off from work today -- just came back from the dentist. Apparently, I have a cracked tooth, and will need to get a crown. :( (That tooth has been bothering me, though, so I'm glad I finally got to the dentist and he'll be able to do something about it.).

This afternoon, I need to bake many batches of rugelach -- we're having friends over for Hanukkah both Saturday and Sunday, and I also want to give some as gifts. I'll probably post back a little later, asking for input on my menu ideas for the weekend.

When I tried looking at the Holiday Photo thread from my home computer, I couldn't see Victor's picture, either. :confused: So I'm posting again, from a different website. I hope these work:

This was taken over Memorial Day weekend at my MIL's house:

http://www.ragovin.com/photos/victor_blows_bubbles.jpg

This was taken during our trip to Maine this past summer, when we hiked to the top of Gorham Mountain at Acadia National Park (See how energetic Victor looks? I won't post the photo of Mommy, sitting next to him on the mountaintop, all sweaty and exhausted! ;) ).

http://www.ragovin.com/photos/victor_on_mountain.jpg

[Sarah428]

Helene - Aw, come on, I want to see your picture!;) I just had 2 crowns done. I usually don't mind dental work but that was no fun at all.

Heather - How sweet that Logan is taking care of you. Just goes to prove that you're raising a gentleman!

Lara - That's great that they have a spot for Colin. Wonderful cake!

Joanne - Welcome home! Did you have to buy any clothes last weekend when you stayed at the hotel?!?:p

Molli - Sounds like your little man has taken a big step in the right direction, congrats! I went to the JCP in Kentwood, 10 miles north of Middleville, so probably the one your SIL goes to. I had a problem there when Ella was 3 months and swore I'd never go back but there other one is even further away, so caved in & thought we'd give it another try. Sorry to hear that the Grinch was at your house:(

My Xmas shopping is done, now just need to do the wrapping. I like to make gifts into baskets, etc so its usually a chore, not sure if that will happen this year. Getting the cards out today, have my final exam on Wed, hoping to finish painting the kitchen cabinets by then the end of the week and then it's on to the hallway....geez, no wonder I'm tired!

Ella has been really good for the past week or so, it's so nice to have her feeling better and acting "normal" again. Owen had his 6 month check-up yesterday (17#, 1oz) and is ready to start eating meats so I guess I'll be making baby food this weekend too!

Sarah

[Molli526]

Heather- You will have to let us know which school you end up going with. Glad to hear you are feeling better.

Lara - Your cake looks great! That will be nice to have your kids at the same place.

Sarah - I am sure it was Kentwood too. Congrats on getting your shopping finished. I am fiinished too and it feels great. Just need to wrap but that won't be too bad. I need to look at Child of Mine. Maybe Henry is ready for meat now too. He really wants to eat what we are eating.

Helene- Victor is handsome! It looks like he had a blast climbing :)

[LA98]

Joanne, funny you mentioned getting your floors done -- ours are being done too, so Brian and I will be staying at my parents' house tonight until Sunday. I think he'll have fun, but I think it will also kind of mess him up a bit. Oh well, there was no way around it.

Sarah, definitely no wonder you're tired. I just can't imagine having school along with work, 2 kids, etc.

Helene, rugelach is one of my favorite goodies. I'm so glad I don't know how to make them! ;) Sorry to hear about the crown, won't be fun but neither is walking around with pain, right? Great pictures of Victor by the way!

Lara, what a great butterfly cake! Glad the party went well.

Molli, how great that Charles is trained already. I thought it took us a while (Brian was around 2 3/4), but just in the past week or so I've encountered several 3 1/2 or close to 4-year-olds who are still not trained!

So my darling son has been running me ragged lately. He's had a major tantrum every day for the past 2 weeks, I'd say. All were pretty much because he couldn't get his way on something. It's just so weird, he had been behaving incredibly well for the last several months, being very agreeable and seeming to understand that some things just have to be done (getting dressed or not watching TV, etc). Well, lately it's like he's 2 years old again! We sat in the car at school the other night for close to 30 minutes because he was freaking out so badly that I couldn't get him in his car seat. I've been late every day for work because of tantrums over getting dressed or leaving for school. Ugh. Hoping this is just a phase and that it ends quickly!!

Have to admit here one thing that's been helping -- just thought it was funny because something similar was mentioned on the thread about Santa on Other Stuff and someone said how awful it was: DH was so frustrated during a particularly bad scene with Brian last week that he took his cell phone off his belt, flipped it open, and told Brian that he was going to call Santa to let him know that he was not doing good listening. He stopped almost immediately! So we have been dropping some gentle reminders :rolleyes: lately that Santa has his listening ears on and that Brian needs do better listening himself. It's working really well, but what will we do starting Dec 26? :D

Lori

[MrsReber]

Here I am!! Been so busy with work, house, kids, cookies....yes, have to make cookies. I'm going to the school tomorrow. I volunteered to make cookies and I don't have all that many so far! I have to bake some tonight.
Helene, I'm making rugelach, too. I love it. I got a Martha Stewart cookbook for Christmas last year and I haven't made one thing out of it yet- I decided to try the rugelach recipe. My dough is chilling!

I actually haven't done anything about the dream catcher money. I have had such a hectic week! On Saturday morning, I logged on to my email only to find a message from Casey's teacher. Apparently she found a bunch of party invitations on her desk. Normally, they don't hand out party invitations at school. However, this little girl very recently lost her mom- it was probably just last month. I don't know what happened. In addition to that, Casey had been talking about going to her birthday party and she's pretty fond of this little girl. Soooo, we got there a little late- I had to rush to buy a present- but it was really good to see my kids having fun playing with other kids. Well, Brenden mostly played with their cats and the 2 puppies they had. They didn't want to leave after 2 hours. The grandmother told me to just leave them there and come back later. I felt a bit odd, but I did leave. I went home for about 90 minutes to start dinner. When I came back, the grandmother was feeding them dinner (which was really fine with me). She said they were hungry. One other little girl from Casey's class was still there. She was staying over.

Going to try to post a picture here:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid220/pb7808a116bab1b1853f2fcb6db0dca58/eba400fd.jpg


If this works correctly, it's the kids on Dapples, riding out to the field after Casey's lesson on Saturday. Brenden thinks he knows how to ride now! DH was with us. Casey insisted he watch her trot. She was so proud. She's really doing great. The past 3 lessons have been exceptional. It's coming together for her.

Heather, Logan will have a great time spending the summer at Goddard. They really do have a good summer program (I know ours did!) They brought in such fun stuff and had great field trips.

Casey's school has PE twice a week and then they have a 1/2 hour recess each day. I'm pretty happy about that. It's a shame that many schools were cutting it out of the program. That's one thing that she had in 1/2 day kindergarten in NJ.

Well, I really have to run- they've been keeping me so busy at work. I'll easily log 30 hours this week! That's a good thing as far as money, but it's hard to do! DH and I are still adjusting to everything. He thinks I'm a SAHM now- I keep explaining that I'm quite busy with work and don't have a lot of time to do extra things. I'm trying!!!! Time to start dinner.....

[Sarah428]

Susan - What a wonderful picture! Hope things slow down a little for you...but that might not be until next year;)

Lori - Ella was acting the same way recently but then we found out she had an ear infection, could there be an illness? After 3 days of antibiotics Ella was back to herself, TG! I've mentioned once or twice that Santa is watching:o

Molli - I saw your post in the other thread about working out, etc. Have you been using those Yoga DVDs? I ordered them after you recommended them; I watched 1 once and haven't seen it since:o. I'm like most of the others that posted, I'm at the pre-preg weight but "flabby":( I'm at the gym at 5am 4 days a week for an hour, walk the dog 20 minutes a day, and go for a long run (4-8miles) on Sundays but still flabby, ugg!

Last night was my final exam, I only needed at 42% on it to get an A! My next class doesn't start until 1/8 so it will be a nice break. I don't find out until March if I've been excepted into this years nursing program though, they only except 40 people a year and I've been on the waiting list 2 years!

Ella and I made hershey kiss pretzels last night for Xmas treats. We're hoping to ride the Holly Trolly soon with Santa, takes you around town to see the decorated houses! That might not be until next week though, DH works every night this week and I want to make it a family thing.

Sarah

[JoanneOR]

Lara, the cake turned out great! Glad everything worked out well. That's great that Natalie and Colin can now be in the same school. Enjoy your party today. :)

One thing I really don't like about the kids going to public school is they have to go to religious education classes. I haven't been happy with the program we are going to at our church, but that's a whole other long, probably boring, post! But, it's on Sunday mornings at 8:45. I wish they could schedule it later or during the week - I hate having to get the kids up another day during the week.

Helene, great pictures of Victor. And, I think you should have kept you in, too. :)

Sarah, no, I did the responsible thing :rolleyes: and didn't buy new clothes. I wore my jeans again and grabbed a sweater I had in our basement. Wow, sounds like you have a busy week! How did your final go?? I don't know how you do it, going to school and being a mom! My mind has turned to mush - I don't think I could retain any other information!

Lori, I feel you pain. Caitlyn has been having tantrums lately, too. I think it's because I've been extra busy with stuff around the house and holiday stuff, I really haven't been giving her any special attention. She's doing things like refusing to walk down the stairs to have breakfast in the morning. She'll yell for me to carry her and then cry when I tell her she needs to come down. I had to laugh about your DH calling Santa. I haven't done it this year, but in the past I've had imaginary conversations with Santa on the phone. ;) I'd actually dial it, ask for him and start talking in front of whoever I was discussing with him. Worked every time! I think the worst we've done was when the boys were younger we would tell them to clean up all their toys from the basement floor. If they weren't cooperating, DH would tell them that "Joe", the man with the big dump truck, was going to come around when they were sleeping and take all the toys they left on the floor and give them to other kids who needed them. :eek:

Susan, great picture!! Sounds like Casey is making some friends and really adjusting well.

I have almost all my shopping done. I need to figure out what to get for the teachers, though. A friend of mine was in Toysrus last week when they got a shipment of Nintendo Wii's in. She got one for us. The boys will be thrilled. They've been hinting for it. I haven't made any cookies yet. :o Last year I probably made 6-8 varieties and gave them to the neighbors. I don't think that's going to happen this year.

We took our holiday picture last night. I'm going to try to post it in a new post so I don't lose this one.

[JoanneOR]

OK, let's see if this works....

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6cc32b3127cce8fe22510b5ab00000015108JcN3Lhq0o

[LaraW]

Susan, that is a great picture. :)

Lori, we've experienced similar things with Natalie and sometimes she's turned out to have an ear infection. When she's flipping out for no (apparent) reason, I try to ask her if something hurts. Sometimes she will say yes and point to her left ear. Hopefully its nothing serious and Brian will be back to his charming self soon ;)

Sarah, congrats on finishing your class and enjoy your break. How do you do the hershey kiss pretzels? That might be a good gift for Natalie's daycare teachers that she can help with.

Well, Natalie is back in diapers :( I can't help feeling like I've been a horrible mom, pushing her on the potty training faster than she was ready. She had a bad day at school on Tuesday, about 4-5 "accidents". DH and i decided Tuesday night that we'd go back to diapers until she decided shewas ready to use the potty at school and use it consistently at home.

It was a hard decision, but we put some other rules into place, namely that she cleans herself up. She puts the pullups on herself, takes them off herself and is responsible for throwing them away, she cleans herself up after dirty diapers (she gets a bath every night so its not like we're going to let her go aroudn with a truly dirty bottom).

We talked to her yesterday morning, and told her she was not in trouble, but that we were going back to diapers until she decided she was ready to use the potty at school and use it when seh needed to go at home or when we were out. SHe wore a pullup all day and cleaned up 2 dirty ones. She said this AM that she wanted to wear underwear, and so we let her take some underwear along to school and told her if she decided to use the potty at school that she could wear her underwear.

I just feel like I've done something terrible to her by pushing her faster, and I know its totally an emotional issue versus a physical one, just b/c she does know what she needs to do.

I have my work Christmas party this afternoon, so it should be fun. We do a white elephant exchange every year, and this year I have a beer fountain thing to contribute. That should go over well ;)

[LaraW]

Great picture, Joanne! I need to try and get one of the kids in front of the tree (it would help if we got the tree out of the bucket of water in the garage).

[Sarah428]

((Lara)) - Don't feel bad, she was making good progress so that's a great start! Here's the info for the pretzels:
hershery kisses - small twist pretzels - holiday M&Ms
Lay pretzels on cooking sheet, top w/ kiss. Put in 275 oven for 5-8 minute or until slightly soft. Remove from over, top w/ M&M, pushing the kiss down slightly. Harden in fridge.

We made 4 large ziplock bags full and threw them in the freezer to distribute later. Here's a thread (http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?t=67408&highlight=pretzel) with lots of variations.

Joanne - I love that picture, what a troop you have there!

[HRJ]

What incredible pictures!

Susan, that photo of Casey & Brenden is just gorgeous!! It's great that Casey has taken so well to the riding lessons -- it's so fascinating to see kids start to develop a skill and make it their "own."

Joanne, I love your kids! (Have to admit I'm partial to Ian, with the golden antlers!).

I hear you about getting the kids up on Sundays for religious education -- Victor's Hebrew School class meets at 9:30 on Sundays (although everyone always gets there late, so they usually don't really start until 9:45 or closer to 10). I've been taking an adult ed class at the temple while his kids' class is going on, and the teacher for the adult class generally likes to start on time, though.

Lara, don't feel bad about the potty issues -- you gave it a good try, and you certainly didn't know beforehand how Natalie would react. Maybe throwing all the control back to her will be the thing that "flips the switch."

Enjoy your work party -- I have mine next week, with a Yankee Swap (more or less the same as a white elephant, I think).

Sarah, I cannot believe how much you manage to get done -- working full-time, school, two kids, *and* you're at the gym at 5 am for an hour! Makes me tired just reading about it. Hope you get into the nursing program; good luck on your final.

Lori, sorry to hear that Brian's been acting up lately -- it may just be the time of year, or he may be going through some sort of developmental growth that's making him unsettled -- or he may have just decided to drive you crazy! ;)

We had a very difficult weekend with Victor last week, behavior-wise -- I got really upset with something that happened on Sunday morning (long story ... ) and as punishment, we took away Victor's TV/computer privileges for three days. Then DH and I talked, and we decided we need to become more consistent with following the 1-2-3 Magic approach, which is something we've been trying to do -- but not very consistently :o -- for the past year or so. We talked with Victor on Sunday night about how he would get two "warnings" when he was misbehaving, and if we reached "3," he'd get a punishment (either going to his room or loss of privileges, depending on the situation). So far this week I've had to "count" twice, but he stopped what he was doing when I got to "2" each time.


Looking for quick feedback on my menu ideas for this weekend -- we're having small get-togethers for Hanukkah at our house both days, both with kids and adults. Both will be mid-afternoon to early evening. Since I plan to make home-made latkes for both occasions, I want to keep everything else as simple as possible.

For Saturday, I'm thinking:
vegetable platter with dip
pita chips with hummus or some other type of dip
"pigs in blankets" (when I was a kid, I used to call this "dogs in jackets")
assorted hot apps (most likely purchased from Trader Joe's, unless I get very ambitious tomorrow)
home-made latkes with apple sauce
rugelach (already made)
some sort of cake -- apple cake would be traditional (I love the CL cinnamon apple cake), but I'm also thinking of some sort of spice cake -- I pretty much want it to be some sort of "one-bowl" recipe, though.

For Sunday:

Veg platter
Either cheese blintz casserole (recipe is on this board someplace) or mac and cheese -- I'm thinking mac and cheese will go over better with kids, and this will be a *very* informal gathering. (Cheese dishes are traditional for Hanukkah)
Homemade latkes w/applesauce
Green salad
rugelach
Sugar cookies -- for a kids' activity, I'm going to make cookie dough beforehand and let the kids cut them into Hanukkah shapes and decorate with white/blue frosting, sprinkles, etc.

I also have chocolate gelt (coins) for the kids.

For the kids' activity on Saturday, I've ordered some "paint your own dreidle" kits -- unfortunately, Victor found them the other day, and he's been driving me crazy asking if he can paint his ahead of time. :rolleyes:

Helene

[tbb113]

Helene - your menu sounds fine to me...but I need sour cream for my latkes in addition to the applesauce ;)

Joanne - your picture is great. Such happy kids :)

[LA98]

Hmm, ear infection... I didn't think of that. Well, this afternoon Brian's got an appointment with the pediatric urologist (annual follow-up from his surgery), I don't think he'll mind if I ask him to take a peek in his ears too. Speaking of the doctor, now that we know we're having another boy I'm anxious to ask him what the odds are of the new baby having the same birth defect. From what I understand, when Brian got it, it was just a random thing but he establishes a family history of it and so now this baby stands a better chance of having it. :(

Helene, your menu sounds wonderful! I'm a big believer in the 1-2-3 Magic theory, although lately we've been getting to 3 pretty often... Oh, and thanks for the laugh with dogs in jackets! :D

Joanne, what a great photo of the kids, and I'm especially impressed that you found 4 sets of coordinating pj's in all different sizes! :) And I LOVE the "Joe" idea, laughed right out loud when I read it, and I may have to use it.

Lara, as frustrating as I know it is, I think you did the right thing with Natalie and the pull-ups. And I think her wanting to take underwear to school could be a sign that she just needed to have some control over the situation. FWIW, I don't think you pushed her training at all, I think you encouraged her and tried a few different methods to help her. And that's your job, right? :)

[Sarah428]

I'm a big believer in the 1-2-3 Magic theory, although lately we've been getting to 3 pretty often...
What do you do when you get to 3? I've become one of those parents that just starts counting and s l o w l y get to 3:o

[LA98]

Depends on the situation we're dealing with, but I try to make it relevant to what he's doing wrong. So it could be the TV being shut off, or a toy being taken away for 1 day, or having to sit on the "naughty step" (yes, I watch SuperNanny :rolleyes: ) and so on. We started using it right after he turned 2, and most of the time it works really well, but...some days he just doesn't care what's gonna happen on 3! ;)

[HRJ]

When we did 1-2-3 in the past, there were a lot of occasions when we would get to 3 -- either because Victor was being too defiant and just didn't care what the consequences were going to be, or, sometimes, because he just seemed curious about what would happen. He'd sort of "ramp down" his behavior, but not stop it completely, and he'd get this look on his face that I've seen in other situations, like "hmmmm .... this could be interesting ... let's follow this and see what develops." :rolleyes:

This time, because we started the week with the big 3-day TV/computer clampdown, he was taking the 1-2-3 rather seriously, fortunately. Since losing privileges seems to be the big motivator right now, that's what we're going to stick with. We used to try taking away a favorite toy, but that doesn't work anymore because he's not so emotionally attached to any one thing, so he just switches to another of his (way too many) toys.

Sitting on a step or chair never worked for us, but, if he's just too wound up and out of control, physically, sending him to his room is good for helping to calm him down/change behaviors. I also think because he's so social and craves constant connection with people, having to stay in his room by himself for a little while -- and away from the "social areas" of the house -- is an effective way of making him realize that he's gone over the top. (We let him keep the door open so that it doesn't seem quite so much like "solitary confinement," but we won't interact or communicate with him.)

Helene

[JoanneOR]

Lara, don't beat yourself up about Natalie's training. I think you're absolutely doing the right thing. It'll be less stressful for both of you, probably. Every kid is different and there's no way to know how they will react to potty training. I'm betting she picks it up real quick now - the pressure is off and she's responsible for cleaning up herself.

Thanks for the comments on the pictures. I forgot to mention that I "bribed" them to cooperate and smile. Things were not going well. Caitlyn and Colin were fighting over where to stand which ending with Caitlyn rolling on the floor crying. Oh, and at one point the tree started to topple over because they were goofing around and Jameson got pushed into it. :eek: I told them that I was going to send the picture to Santa and if they took a nice picture and smiled Santa would see what nice kids they were and would bring nice presents. ;) :D

We do the 1-2-3 thing, too. We'll tell them the potential punishment and if they don't do what we are asking by 3, then the punishment is enforced. Usually it's the no tv/video game thing. Works great with the boys, but we've found nothing really fazes Caitlyn. There's nothing she's really so attached to that we can threaten taking away. And, yes, I do start adding fractions after 2, ...2 1/4, 2 1/2...:)

Lori, hope all goes well at the doctor. I hope Brian doesn't have an ear infection, but in a way maybe it would explain his behavior and actually be good if he did, because it's easily corrected. ;)

Helene, your menu sounds great to me. We are hosting Christmas Eve....I have absolutely no idea what we are serving. Guess I better get started on that. :)

Time to go catch my train...

[eas11]

Hi, Helene!! Saw your name on the board as a last poster, so decided to open and see what you were chatting about :D You pre-K parents have alot to talk about, I see!
Ahh, my favorite sub-topic, the often misunderstood T.O., in my favorite topic- the often misunderstood behavior management, from an analysts perspective. :)

In our world (the one that gives us our licence, for what ever that's worth and which I don't have yet as I keep putting off taking the board exam:( ) defines T.O. more fully as Time Out From Reinforcement which is why this works so nicely for Victor in this case. If social connectedness is his +reinforcement, he's not getting that in his room....even if you think he's surrounded by your in home versrsion of TRU! Your last statement about refraining from communication for that period of time is the crutial piece. Glad it's working for you.
........I also think because he's so social and craves constant connection with people, having to stay in his room by himself for a little while -- and away from the "social areas" of the house -- is an effective way of making him realize that he's gone over the top. (We let him keep the door open so that it doesn't seem quite so much like "solitary confinement," but we won't interact or communicate with him.)

Helene

Your menu's sound good- I vote for the mac/cheese as a more kid-friendly choice.
And what beautiful pictures of Victor...really, he looks wonderful! In fact, all of the pics were fun to see- all of these kids are so cute!
We need to get together sometime- I got my GPS so maybe geocaching we can go! I bet Victor will enjoy it. Did you get my message a couple of weeks ago?

Sorry for the hijack, other moms! Back to your regularly scheduled chat :)

[Molli526]

Joanne- That is a beautiful picture :)

Sarah- I do the yoga on occasion. I need to be better about it, but I am not. I may join a gym to help inspire me to work out. Good luck getting into nursing school.

(((Lara))) I think Potty training is one of the hardest things about toddlerhood. Ugh. I remember the first time we put forth the 100% effort - we started on Thursday and Friday night I went out with girls for much needed drinks. DH and I were so stressed and arguing. I think you are taking the right approach by letting Natalie decide when she is ready. It is totally a control thing.

Helene- Your menus sound great - I think your parties sound fun :)

Susan - That is a great picture of the kids!

We are big 1-2-3 Magic fans here. We go for quite a while w/o getting to 3 and then it seems like one day all we are doing is counting to 3. Charles likes to test some days ;) Sometimes we take away his "best friend" Moo, or like last night he got to 3 in the bath, so he didn't get anymore stories while in the tub. Most of the time, he goes to his room, and that helps re-set things. He has gotten time outs when we've been at my parents, so he knows he has to follow the rules everywhere.

[LaraW]

Thank you for the support everyone.

So, I was thinking, as I was driving to pick Colin up, about how nice it would be to not come home to a bunch of wet clothes today, since she was probably wearing her pullup all day. I arrive at daycare, and Colin is wearing his extra clothes...that are way too small...because he blew out his diaper twice today.

Ah, the laundry never ends, does it? :p

I think we're going to put our Christmas tree up tomorrow night. Poor Natalie thinks that it "goes" in the garage. She keeps opening the door between the house and the garage to look at it. :o

[cchhbb]

Lara, too funny about where Natalie thinks the tree goes. I bought a tree last week, but it is in the backyard in a bucket of water. Garrett came home from school a couple of days ago and said that we didn't have a Christmas tree in our house so we must be Jewish and that he thought we should get 10 days of presents for Hanukkah. Okay. This is from a child who is also doing an Avent calendar daily. Oh Well.

I have been so busy dealing with my kitchen. We are currently laying the travertine floor for the 3rd time. I can't wait until its done. The first time, the material did not match the sample. The tile company didn't have a good substitute so they are paying to rip out the floor and will take back all the tile. The second time, the tile layer had it too high so DH ripped out the floor when he came home from work so we are 2 days into the third time now. I spent all of last weekend trying to find a travertine that I loved. I found it at Home Depot on clearance and ended up driving all over GA to get enough. And our granite guys made a mistake so I am pushing them to come back this week and fix it. They have to grind down the edge again to make it straight and that will cause a lot of mess.

On Saturday, we are going to the North Pole acting out the Polar Express. We have to go to Chattanooga and get on an old steam engine and they read the Polar Express book and we go to the North Pole. Santa gets on the train at the North Pole and then visits with each child on the way home. I bought the tickets in July when they first went on sale since it sells out really fast.

Yesterday, Griffin managed to fall down our front steps and land on his nose. He looks a little bit like Rudolph. He's not sleeping very well lately and he is driving me a bit crazy. For some reason he doesn't seem to want to take his nap.

Joanne, great pictures in front of the tree. I bought the same jammies for Griffin and Garrett has the striped ones. We are wearing them on the train ride Saturday.

Lara, I understand the laundry problem. I haven't had a washing machine for 2 weeks. Last week, I went to the laundry mat and did 20 loads of laundry in 2 hours. I did wash all the comforters and blankets due to all the dust floating through our house.

Tonight is DH's company Holiday party. I'm really not in the mood to go, but it will be nice to get out. We haven't had a babysitter in a long time, especially when the kids are awake. Since they go to bed so early we sometimes put them to bed and then go out. I hope she has a good time. Garrett really wanted some sheets from IKEA that had numbers on them so I bought them when I returned some stuff this week and I'm going to sneak them on his bed before the babysitter comes as a special treat. Hope it works to get him to go to bed. I really need him to get a good night's sleep since we will be out late tomorrow night.

Take Care Everyone.
Cheryl

[JoanneOR]

Molli, I know you have some step tapes at home you could use ;) .

Lara, I had to laugh about Natalie thinking the tree belonged in the garage! That is definitely something that would happen in our house.

Cheryl, I like Garrett's way of thinking! Wow, the kitchen project sounds frustrating! But, I'm sure it will be worth it when it's all done. I did the same thing with our basement floor. Found a tile I really liked and of course they were short about 20 pieces. I had to go to a few different Home Depots to get enough, but I was determined!! Poor Griffin! Hope he heals fast.

[LA98]

Just a quick update: I had so much to discuss with the doctor last night that I forgot to ask him to check Brian's ears, but he had taken a 2-hour nap at school yesterday (he hasn't taken a nap there in weeks) and he was near angelic last night. Go figure :rolleyes: He was also very good with doctor examining him too. Doctor's very happy with the way everything looks, which is great. I asked him about the new baby's odds of having the same thing, he said it was 20%. I was upset but trying to stay positive, thinking hey, that's an 80% chance he won't have it. Then I asked what Brian's chances had been, and he said .5 to 1%. :( :( He also said he sees quite a few brothers in his practice. D*mn. Still hoping the little guy beats the odds on this one.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lori

[Sarah428]

Lori - Ironic that you should mention napping; Ella has started to take very short naps or no nap at all at daycare and we can really tell the difference at night. W/o a nap she'll get into bed at 7:30 and "read" until 8:30 at the latest and fall asleep. Yesterday she didn't nap and was begging to go to bed at 6:30...and after a huge tantrum!:( Glad to hear that the doctor said Brian looks good, and keep that glass 1/2 full, not empty!;)

So, with that said, when did your kids stop taking a nap? Ella naps for at least 2 hours on the weekends but I think it's because we've really established a routine and always read to her. At daycare its hit or miss.

[tbb113]

Michael stopped napping around 3 if I remember correctly. I don't remember him napping when Alex was born. Alex napped through kindergarten and sometimes would fall asleep if given a chance when he was older. BUT...he went to bed late (after 9pm) and was an early riser (still is) so he needed the naps (plus he didn't always sleep through the night). Michael went to bed at a much more reasonable hour and would sleep later. He still is a much better sleeper than Alex is :)

[cchhbb]

Garrett stopped napping right before his 3rd birthday. He wanted to give it up about 2 1/2 and I fought him tooth and nail since Griffin was just a newborn. After he gave up his nap, he would go to bed at 6 pm. Pretty much he ate dinner at 5, had a bath and went to bed.

Griffin has been taking short naps for the last week or so. I hope it's not his idea to give up his nap because he really needs it.

Lara, I know how you feel about the birth defect thing. I was born with club feet and met with a genetic specialist before Garrett was born. We were told that we had a 40% chance for a boy to have it and a 20% for a girl. When I found out I was having a boy, I was really worried.

I'm on hold with the Train store now. Need to run.

Cheryl

[JoanneOR]

Sarah, I can't remember the last time Caitlyn took a nap! :( On the rare occasion that she does, I'm worried that something is wrong. I really don't think she gets enough sleep, though. She usually doesn't fall asleep til 9:00 or 9:30 and then gets up by 7:30 on school days. I don't think she's regularly napped since she was about 2. The boys probably all stopped by around 2 and a half, I think.

Lori, like you said, think positively. 80% chance everything will be fine. I can understand your concern, though. I don't remember the exact problem Brian had, but is it something they would be able to see through an ultrasound? Maybe you could ease your mind that way.

Very busy weekend for us. We have a babysitter tomorrow night, but DH and I are going separate places. We got invited to a party, DH said he wanted to go, but I never wrote in on the calender. Meanwhile his friend called and said he wanted to take him and a couple other friends out for dinner for the holidays. They're going to DH's favorite steak place, so he was all over that! :) He forgot we were going to this party the same night. I really like this guy, but he's single, and he makes these plans, but never includes the wives. Which I understand, but all the other guys going are married and do have wives who would probably want to go. I wouldn't want him to pay, of course. But, anyway, the party is the same night and it's my good friend, so I'm going by myself. During the day tomorrow both Colin and Jameson have soccer practice at two different times, Caitlyn has ballet, Jameson is ringing the bell at a grocery store about 30 minutes away with the Kiwanis Kids at school, we're going to look at house my parents are thinking of buying, and I'm trying to squeeze a hair appt. in there somewhere. Caitlyn told me this morning "mom, your hair is two different colors". :o OK, I get the hint, I need to get new color and highlights.

[Molli526]

Molli, I know you have some step tapes at home you could use ;) .



Sadly, I have let myself get too out of shape. They are a goal. I am just so tired in the am, the alarm goes off, I just turn it off, and go back to sleep OR I turn it off after I get done feeding Henry at 4am. It is much easier to work out when you don't have to work!

Cheryl, that is really cute about Garrett

Lara, That is funny about Natalie and the tree

Joanne, I think you are the busiest person I know!

Sarah, Charles is starting to slow down on his naps. Like today for instance. He has been up there for ~ 2hours just talking and singing :rolleyes: Tonight should be fun :eek: :rolleyes:

[JoanneOR]

Molli, I understand about the exercise thing!! I really didn't get back into it until Caitlyn was at least a year. It's too hard to be getting up at night and then try to get up early in the morning. Although she still wakes up at night and she's 4. :(

[LaraW]

Joanne, I'm tired just reading about your day tomorrow.

Molli, I have been so bad about exercising since Colin was born. Its pathetic. There are so many excuses out there, and I use another one about every day. I keep thinking that I'll get there, just because things will get easier as they get older.

Sarah, thanks for the instructions for the pretzel/hershey kiss things. I think Natalie and I will make those for her daycare teachers.

Natalie is starting to be kind of hot and cold on her naps. She didn't nap at daycare yesterday, and she was a monster by dinnertime. DH and I scrapped our dinner plans and just made macaroni and cheese so we could get her to bed faster. She was asleep before 7:00, I think. She's napping right now (I think). I told her that if she took a good nap that she would be allowed to stay up later tonight and help decorate the Christmas tree.

Poor Colin is sick-ish I think. He is cutting some teeth and seems to have an upset stomach. He was up in the night, DH gave him tylenol and teething tablets, but he took a crappy AM nap. I gave him rice cereal for lunch and he seemed to like that. Hopefully that is easy on his tummy. He went down for his nap at 11:45.

Also, MIL had an angiogram today. She has had 2 heart bypass surgeries, the most recent one being about 2-3 years ago. She has to have some surgery on her knee, but b/c she has a heart condition she has to be cleared by her heart doctor before they can do the knee surgery. Well, they did a test that came back with "inconclusive" results (probably b/c of the scar tissue in her heart) so they scheduled her for an angiogram today. It sounds like everything is fine, though.

I don't know how to feel about MIL and her heart issues. She had a blockage about 9 years ago, and had a bypass done. Then, she had another blockage about 2-3 years ago and had the same surgery done to re-do the blockage. She has done NOTHING to improve her lifestyle since having these surgeries. In fact, I would guess that she has gained 40-60 lbs in the last 9 years. She is the heaviest I've ever seen her, she doesn't eat well, doesn't exercise etc.

I would think that if I went through the same thing that it would be a big wake up call for me. I mean, its her HEART. Its serious, yet she continues to sit and watch TV, eat processed foods, etc. It makes me mad and I just can't figure it out.

[Molli526]

Lara, I hope Natalie took a good nap. Charles did not and was down to bed by 6:40! He was a bear!

Sorry to hear about your MIL. She may be one of those patients who feels that b/c she is on the laundry list of meds that she will be fine. What a lot od the pts don't understand is that if they have a blockage in one vascular bed, it is likely there is a blockage in another. Meds help, but they can't undo years of damage. I am with you, I would make a lot of lifestyle changes.