November/December Formerly Wobbly Toddlers

[ellery]

Okay, so I was at a loss for what to name us. I figured I'd combine November and December since we've all been very busy and not posting much and I thought this would cover us until next year. Hopefully we'll get a little more action this month - I feel a little lonely here lately.

anyway...

me: ageless
DH: aging but doesn't recognize it
Danny: 19 1/2 months going on 16

October ended nicely for us with a fun Halloween. Danny went as Elvis and didn't quite grasp the whole concept of trick or treating, but did enjoy getting lollipops out of the deal. We're looking forward to visiting with family for the holidays - the in-laws haven't seen him since his 1st birthday and he's changed so much!

Okay, a few questions. What is everyone doing for bath time? I bought this blowup tub that we use within the regular tub but it seems to have a teeny but annoying hole in it now. No biggie, but annoying to have to blow it back up every few days. I'm not sure Danny's quite old enough to transition to the whole tub on his own - I was thinking about those blowup bumper things that you can put on the sides of the tub (I spend way too much time in the One Step Ahead catalog) and a bathmat to keep him from slipping. Or just seeing if we can patch the hole in his current tub. Thoughts?

Also, I know I should probably post this on another forum, but there have been tons of camera threads and I hated to add one more. Does anyone have a camera that they really like? Ours is decent, but just doesn't take great pictures when the subject is an active toddler. It doesn't let me take pictures back to back (there's something like a 3 second delay - lots can happen in 3 seconds) and indoor pics are blurry despite what setting I use on the camera. Just thought I'd see if anyone had one they loved.

And last question... Christmas presents? I'm just looking for ideas. I've already decided to get Danny one of those Pottery Barn kid chairs (he LOVES chairs that are "his" size), a kid's Dyson (it really suctions - very cool), and one of those work benches where you can hammer in the pegs and whatnot.

Closing with a pic. We had our first professional photo shoot this past weekend and it was surprisingly easy (I hate getting my picture taken) and from the few pics I've seen so far it turned out great. Whew! Just wanted to show off my beautiful boy. (who is way better looking than his parents )

[LA98]

Hi Leah!! Well, Danny is just so beautiful. That blue sweater matches his eyes! We just had photos done last weekend too. The goal was to get a good one of the boys together for Christmas cards. Out of close to 100 pictures, we were able to get one of them that isn't terrible. I also got a couple of good ones of Jason cramming pretzels in his mouth, it was the only way we could keep him in one place!

Jason's been doing okay, still having lots of tantrums though. My challenge now is how to handle them. With Brian, I would pretty much ignore tantrums, tell him I would talk to him when he stopped screaming and then leave the room. It almost always worked. When I try that with Jason, he bangs his head on whatever's closest. The other day it was the corner of our brick fireplace. The other night he was protesting bedtime, so after many attempts at soothing and comforting, I kissed him goodnight and put him down in his crib. He started screaming of course, but then I heard a big thud. I opened the door just in time to see him hit his head on the crib again. So now CIO won't work either. I feel like he's really got me where he wants me! The ped swears he'll grow out of it, but the question is when.

I saw the pictures of Danny as Elvis on the Halloween thread, priceless!!! Jason wanted absolutely nothing to do with his puppy costume. It was a furry vest with a hood, I think he didn't like it coming down over his head. Okay. I pulled out a bumblebee costume Brian wore at that age, it's a furry jacket that zips up the front and he was okay with that. It was so funny, by the second house he'd gotten the hang of banging on the door and grabbing a handful of candy out of a bowl! Too funny.

Bath: Jason's been in the big tub since he was able to sit up, so I'm afraid I can't give any suggestions on this one.

Gifts: We're struggling on this one! So far I'm thinking a small play kitchen set and bristle blocks. Probably some (more) cars or trucks, etc.

Camera: I just got a Canon PowerShot SD1100IS that I like a lot. I haven't made much progress getting through the owner's manual, but I know it has a children/pets setting that does a pretty good job with action shots. Still a bit of a delay though but I think it's good for a $200 camera!

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Lori

[ellery]

Yay - I sounded pitiful enough to encourage Lori to post.

Lori - do you put anything in the tub or is it just tub as is? I have visions of Danny slipping and banging his head on any one of the numerous hard things in the tub (e.g. the tub itself, the soap holder, etc.)

Tantrums - I wouldn't say we're tantrum-free in our house at all, but it doesn't sound anything like what you're dealing with. Many many hugs to you. ((())) One of the things I've noticed is that Danny loses it when he's hungry or overtired, and sometimes it's hard to tell he's overtired until he starts acting irrationally (as in, hitting me full on in the face with a delighted grin and chuckle - not his usual MO at all). I figure that I don't think straight when I'm hungry or tired, and toddlers have absolutely no ability to be patient (and I have no right to ask him to be something that he's not developmentally ready to be), so I usually give in to whatever is being demanded of me. As in, if he's dying of starvation (according to him) I give him a snack to tide him over in the 5 minutes that he has to wait for me to fix him dinner. Or we just do a brief bath and nighttime ritual and I put him to bed early. Does Jason just do tantrums at night? Any particular triggers?

Yes I'm chatty today. It's a holiday and I'm one of 2 people actually working at work today and I'm procrastinating.

[LA98]

I'm feeling chatty too!

There's a bath mat in the tub that I got from One Step Ahead at a ridiculous price, but it's much longer than the ones you find in the stores and covers the whole thing from the end of the tub right to the drain. I try to encourage Jason to sit but most of the time he's standing or walking around and playing with his toys. He has slipped once or twice but I'm always right there and I've caught him.

Honestly, Jason has so many tantrums all day long I've never been able to figure out a trigger! Sometimes I know it's just because he's tired or cranky or hungry, but more often it's because I'm saying no to something he wants, or because there's something he can't do. I'm 2 for 2 with strong-willed children! Frustration is also HUGE for him right now. He doesn't want help with anything at all whether it's putting on his jacket or working a toy or using a utensil while eating, etc, etc. Of course he can't do lots of those things and he just gets FURIOUS. I think the lack of speech frustrates the heck out of him too. Brian was a lot like this around this age so I know I just have to wait it out, but the head banging thing is making me nuts!!! He's actually bruised his forehead a few times!

[LHBryan]

Hi Leah and Lori! Thanks for getting us started Leah. I'm going to try to post more often from now on!

Leah--what a beautiful photo! Danny is precious, and his eyes are incredible. Very, very nice. Makes me realize that we not only need a professional photo, but also a professional haircut. Hannah is looking a bit shabby these days, and I think a mullet is forming.

I don't have much advice about the bathtub b/c Hannah still uses her baby tub inside the big tub. She's way too big for it, but it sort of works for now. I do have the large bathmat Lori mentioned and will start using that soon when we move to the full tub. After the nightmare of trying to bathe her in a full tub on vacation, I decided to keep her in the little one as long as possible. She was all over the place standing and slipping in the big tub! But I do think that bath mat will help.

As for cameras, ours is 5 years old now, so we have the delay problem too.

Lori--so sorry about the tantrums and head banging. Toddlers do the dam*est things. I'll check in my books tonight to see if they have any advice. Hannah gets really frustrated too, and I've sees a few signs that it may turn into a biting problem! Her big trigger is overtiredness, but not letting her have something she wants is also the end of the world!

I have to run, but I'll quickly attempt to post a photo from Halloween. (ETA I don't think this is going to work. I'll try again later!) Our little lady bug:

http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/A...5/t_=105467855

[ellery]

Hi Laura! (waving)

That pic of Hannah is great! She is such a cutie! You always seem to capture her personality in her photos. Delay or not, your camera seems to do well by her.

Lori - are you a SAHM? I think I may have missed that. If so, then supersize those hugs that I gave you yesterday. I can't imagine how difficult it is to deal with tantrums all day long. Oy. I'm sure you probably already have, but have you tried the stuff about empathy? As in, "Yes, I know you're frustrated, but I know you can handle it." Where you give them the words for their feelings and let them know you understand, are there for them, etc. Or there's always the holding thing - where you basically hug them until they're able to calm down.

I know that Jason will grow out of this, but ugh, in the meantime, you poor thing.

((()))

Leah

ps thanks for the recommendation on the tub mat. It was ordered within 10 minutes of me reading your post last night.

[LA98]

Hi Laura! Hannah was an adorable ladybug. What a smile she has!

Leah, glad you liked the bath mat enough to order it. What else did you get?? Technically I'm a WAHM but I don't start working until after the boys are asleep, so yes, I'm home all day, every minute with the little maniac! Thanks for the supersized hugs (LOL), the hardest times are when Brian melts down at the same time, although who could blame him with all that screaming... There's one thing about parenting I know is true and that is "This too shall pass." It's just the waiting that's hard.

Speaking of that, I heard from a friend today who has a 6-week-old (hey Leah, you might find this interesting but she's 43!!!) and pretty much all she could say was, "This is HARD!" Yep, I told her, it sure as hell is. I made sure to tell her to hang on because it gets so much better. Of course I left out the part about toddlers and their tantrums...

[ellery]

Leah, glad you liked the bath mat enough to order it. What else did you get??

Heh. How well you know me! Actually, although I looked hard, I didn't see anything else I could really justify buying. So I settled for buying a "save the tatas" bumper sticker (separate web site). I figured as long as I had my credit card out...

I humbly prostate myself before you in admiration. I have no idea how WAHM's get anything done. And two toddlers melting down simultaneously would be enough to make me melt into a puddle on the floor. I have no idea how you do it and remain a nice person.

Okay, off to snuggle in bed with a book and appreciate the fact that I only have one, and am maintaining a man to man defense for the time being. I'm terrified of if/when the time comes that I'm outnumbered...

[LA98]

LOL. Somehow the only thing I don't get done is sleeping! I work from 9:00 till midnight or later every night (weekends too) and as I have complained here many times, my darling boy wakes up most days at 4:30 or 5 am. But we all do what we have to do, right? At least when I was having computer problems I didn't take little breaks like I'm doing right now to check the CLBB!!

Oh, and if I had two toddlers I'd probably have to be severely medicated. A 5-year-old can be reasoned with. And bribed.

[PoppyJ]

Wow...we are a chatty group. Yeah!!! I was having problems with the BB and looks like I missed some stuff.

Leah, Danny is one handsome boy. That picture is so beautiful.

As for the bath, Avery has been in the bathtub for a while now. We bought one of those mats from One Step Ahead and I love it. She stands and walks about but does not slip.

I like my camera and will have to post back the name and brand. It is in the other room and I am too lazy to get up right now. ETA: The camera is a Canon PowerShot A630.

Danny will love the chair. Avery got one from Christmas last year and she loves sitting and reading in it. I also sit in it and read to her. It's comfy. If she wants me to read to her, she will go over, pat the chair, and say "read." It is very cute. I am at a loss on what to get Avery for Christmas. I feel that they are at an in between stage for toys. Any suggestion?

Lori- You sound like superwoman/supermom. I am a SATM and work part time when Avery is napping and I can barely handle that. I could not imagine staying up until midnight to work.

And I hear you on the tantrums. Avery turned 18 months on 3 November and all heck broke loose. Anything will set her off and she is doing the head banging too. I try to move her to carpet and let her go for it. I cannot leave the room because that only makes it worse. So I just stand there and tell her I understand while she throws her fit.

Laura- Cute picture. She is adorable.

Besides the tantrums, a crazy rash, and not eating much, we are doing great here. Avery had the best time at Halloween. She had such a good time putting the candy in her pumpkin. I will try to post a picture at the end of this post (unless Avery wakes up from her nap first).

The other big thing going on here is that I am getting ready to leave for a 2 week vacation....without Avery or my DH. My sister and I are going over to the Middle East to meet my dad there. He works over there so we are going to meet him in Cairo and then go to Israel. My wonderful mom is going to move in and help DH take care of Avery while I am gone. This sounded like a wonderful idea 6 months ago when I agreed to it, but I am wondering how in the world I am going to get on that plane. I know the break is going to be nice but I am going to miss DH and Avery so much. I am terrified. I know Avery is going to have so much fun with her Memaw (whom she loves more than me) and my mom will treasure the time with her, it is me that is not going to handle this well. Anyone want to tell me that I am not crazy and selfish?!?!?

Here are two pictures from Halloween. Did the link work?

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/A...064/t_=9430064

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/A...064/t_=9430064

[LHBryan]

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Somehow, I just lost a long reply to this thread. Such bizarre stuff going on with the BB these days.

Poppy--Very cute photo of Avery! She looks so excited and grown up. As for vacation, I would be neurotic about it too, but the time will go by so quickly, especially since you'll be with family. You'll feel refreshed after being away from the daily routine, and Avery will be thrilled to see you when you get back.

Leah--You had asked about Christmas presents. We're keeping it low key this year. We picked up a cute play kitchen on clearance last year, so I think we'll give her that along with some play food and dishes. She also has a large "Learning Leapfrog" geared toward 2yo+ that someone gave us a baby gift, so she may get that too. I think we can program it with her name, which will be fun. She's had a baby "Leapfrog" that sings the ABCs for a long time, so she'll be shocked to see his big relative. The chair is a great idea. Hannah is obsessed with chairs right now, so we'll either get her her own chair, or a little step stool to get up to the big rocker in her room. We also need a step stool for her bathroom sink. Does anyone have one they like? We may get her some blocks and a little truck or tractor. (One of her favorite books is "Tough Machines.")

Lots of funny--and not so funny--times at our house these days. Hannah said her first cuss word last week. Early one morning the three of us were in the kitchen in our PJs getting breakfast ready. DH thought he heard the garbage truck and realized he had forgotten to take the trash out the night before. He yelled "F*&K!!" and ran to the bedroom to throw on some clothes. Hannah--decked out in her purple cupcake footed PJs--scurried after him yelling the same exact word in the same exact tone. I've been after DH and his potty mouth for nearly two years but had finally given up on my nagging and decided to just see what happens. While he's sort of improved, this is finally what it took to sink in. He heard her clear as a bell and I didn't have to say a peep. After taking out the garbage, he came into the house with his tail firmly between his legs. He kept asking Hannah if she too had heard the loud "TRUCK."

Last night Hannah was flipping through a book about feelings and talking out loud. She said "appeee" (happy), "sod" (sad), then "Noooo" in a deep, serious voice when she got to the page for "Angry." She also said about 15 "WOW!!"s in a row yesterday morning when I brought cornmeal pancakes to the table. We kept laughing, then the more we'd laugh, the more "Wow!"s she'd say. Adorable! Also over the weekend I yelled DH's name a couple of times, then apparently Hannah ran to find him in the bathroom and said--or so he thinks--"Mama wants you" before running back to the kitchen. If that's the case, heaven help us. Aside from the strange reappearance of aggressive striking at Mommy's face and pulling of hair and a new aversion to teeth brushing, I'm loving this age!

[ellery]

Aside from the strange reappearance of aggressive striking at Mommy's face and pulling of hair and a new aversion to teeth brushing, I'm loving this age!

Oh, I'm very familiar with the open handed smack to the face. This is one of the behaviors that comes out when Danny is overtired. I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure that they put the kids in little hamster wheels and make them run all day long. Danny is usually exhausted when he gets home each day.

I love the cussword story, Laura. Good that DH got to see firsthand his influence.

Poppy - great pic of Avery, and thanks for the camera recommdation. And no, you are not being crazy or selfish about your vacation. I hope you have a great time and it's not too hard being away from your little cutie. ((()))

Okay, I need feedback. Danny gets these "report cards" each day from daycare - where they write how long he napped, what he ate, etc. I've never heard a single negative word (in the 15 months he's been at this daycare) about his behaviors before today. Today his report card said: "Danny did great cleaning today. [huh?] But we are noticing that he won't listen when we ask him to sit on the mat for snack or book time. He walks off. Maybe just a off day."

1. He's 20 months old. Is it entirely realistic to expect him to sit still all the time and to follow directions all the time? Isn't that part of being a toddler?

2. Is this my fault? We don't always eat snacks in the designated eating area at home - sometimes they're eaten while we're riding bikes, or sometimes he and I sit on the stairs and share a pack of raisins, or similar stuff. And when we read stories at night, I don't have a conniption about him not sitting down to read with me. His new thing is wandering around the room getting some last minute playing in while I read to him. I know he's listening because he'll look over when I get to certain favorite pages (current favorite book - Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton). I want reading time to be enjoyable, not a power struggle, so I don't hassle him to sit still.

Should I change my expectations of his behaviors at home so it's more in line with what's expected at daycare? Or should I let him figure out that expectations can vary? I'm a pretty laid back parent, and I prefer to pick my battles carefully. As in, it's okay for him to dump over a basket of toys, since he knows he's expected to help me pick them up when it's time. It's okay for him to bring his stuffed giraffe and bear to school as long as he remembers the special "blankie" and binkie stay in his crib. That kind of stuff.

Any thoughts???

[LA98]

Okay, this is why I love these threads, I'm always reassured when I'm not the only one going through something and this time I'm glad I'm not the only one getting beat up by their child! Jason has started smacking me lately when he gets mad, and he pinches me when he's REALLY mad.

1. Is it entirely realistic to expect him to sit still all the time and to follow directions all the time? Isn't that part of being a toddler?

2. Is this my fault?

And the answers are.... No. Yes. And NO! I remember getting those sheets when Brian was in daycare and trying to figure out what some things meant. Some days it seemed to me they had to really stretch to find something to write down and that's what I thought of reading about Danny not wanting to sit down. At one point with Brian I did try to mimic things his school did (naptime routine, snacktime, etc) but he saw right through it. Home is home and school is school and they totally know that, even at this age. I honestly don't think you need to change a single thing you're doing. And see below about Jason not sitting still for longer than a minute either.

About their other comment, I wonder if he got hold of a broom and tried to clean the room with it?

Jason's favorite book of the moment is actually a tie between Sandra Boynton's Hippos Go Berserk and But Not the Hippopotamus. Okay, it seems he has a thing for hippos...

We had a heck of a day today and night last night. Jason's eardrum perforated. Again. Second time, same ear, only last time he barely seemed to notice it at all and this time he was in obvious, terrible pain. Screaming and crying and pointing at his ear. UGH. I alternated Motrin and Tylenol last night, which did nothing, and then found out at the ped this morning that I wasn't giving him enough (because of his weight now). :mad: So mad at myself. So now he's on an oral antibiotic as well as ear drops. Should be kicking in by now. He's gotten up twice so far tonight but does seem more comfortable at least. Poor baby. I'm beginning to wonder if tubes are in his future too...

Oh, and I was browsing One Step Ahead before and saw the bath mat again. I don't know why I thought I remembered it being over $30. Seems like a bargain now at $20!

Here's a picture of Jason from the photo session we just did. He looks like a sheepdog because he had a huge tantrum when we took him for a haircut the other day, and the pretzel he's holding was the only way we could keep him in place for more than a second. Photographer had to be quick to catch him when he was still. The next frame after this one in the proofs, he's off the sled, and the one after that he's gone.

[LHBryan]

(((Lori and Jason))) So sorry about Jason's ear and the rough night! Ugh. Don't beat yourself up about the dosage. You were erring on the side of caution, and there's nothing wrong with that! I'm sure it was still helping take the edge off. I hope he feels better soon. I take it Brian has tubes? Very cute photo, and I love the pretzel!

Leah--I agree 100% with Lori. That's definitely part of being a toddler. We've also grappled with whether or not we try to mimic daycare's schedule/rules, etc., but in the end decided not to worry about it. We practice giving Hannah instructions--and give effusive praise when she actually follows them--but I would never expect such a young toddler (or even older toddler!) would sit still like daycare expects Danny to do. When they said maybe he had an off day, it seems like they're implying that some days he does sit with the group for books and snacks. Oh, and this is definitely not your fault! It's just Danny being a kid.

Gotta run to a meeting. More later!

[ellery]

Thanks for the feedback, Lori and Laura. I talked to his teacher this morning and explained my theory on why Danny wanders during storytime, etc. and she said, oh, that's fine. She said that he is definitely listening and claps at the end along with the others (it still cracks me up at home that I get applause at the end of a story) and isn't too worried about it. [um, so then why write a note about it if it's no big deal?]

Oh well. I like his daycare teachers but sometimes they can be space cadets, so maybe this was one of those times.

Lori - I'm so sorry about Jason's eardrum!!! Poor little guy! (and poor mom) Hopefully the antibiotics will wipe it out soon (with none of the antibiotic diarrhea that we always get - God bless Culturelle and its anti-diarrhea magic). I think that pic of him is adorable. I think the only reason we got halfway decent pics of Danny is because we were outside for the photo shoot. Basically we all just wandered around and played and she snapped pics. I haven't seen the rest of them, but seems like that's a good strategy for a toddler.

And no, you're definitely not the only one being beaten up by her kid. Danny's not too bad, and he's definitely worse when he's tired, but I get the smacks to the face and the occasional biting and just the general wrestling move attacks that he's picked up from who knows where. His favorite thing is to sneak up on me when I'm sitting down and jump on my back. So weird that he doesn't roughhouse with his dad but more with me. I thought that was a guy thing.

[LHBryan]

Yep, Hannah smacks, scratches, and pulls hair in one fell swoop. I'm too scared to wear earrings anymore. It had become much less frequent until this weekend. Yesterday and today haven't been quite as bad though. Another perplexing thing is when I tell her "No hitting! It hurts Mommy." She often will hit herself in the face, then get very upset. Who knows what's going on. I think it's related to teething and overtiredness. She seems to be on the cusp of getting lots of teeth in the back. Oh, Leah, like Danny's roughhousing with you, Hannah rarely takes her aggression out on Daddy. She's mostly sweet with him. I try not to get jealous!

Glad the daycare teacher said she isn't too worried about it!

[ellery]

Bumping us back up to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!!!

And to share the fun fact I learned today - that boys can get yeast infections. Danny and I are off to CVS after I pick him up this afternoon to buy some Lotrimin. Poor baby... I couldn't figure out why that diaper rash just wouldn't go away.

Hope everyone has a merry merry turkey day.

Leah

[LA98]

Oh Leah, poor Danny! Ouch. Hope the cream works fast.

I had Jason back at the doctor again today since we're on day 9 of 10 of the antibiotic and he keeps pointing at that ear constantly. Dr says it's healing but there's fluid still and since he's obviously uncomfortable, he prescribed 7 more days of a new antibiotic. Hope that kicks it for good.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

[LHBryan]

Happy Thanksgiving!! We are having a VERY low-key holiday with just the three of us. I'm looking forward to the 4-day weekend. Sweet potato casserole is on the menu, so Hannah will be thrilled.

Leah--So sorry about Danny's rash. I hope it clears up asap! Did it look any different from regular diaper rash? Just curious so I'll know in the future.

Speaking of raw butts, I have an interesting follow-up to my questions about the connection between canned fruit and diaper rash. I told daycare that they are to NEVER give Hannah "mixed fruit" when it's on the menu. I brought in applesauce for her to eat instead. Interestingly, for the past few weeks, her butt has been completely clear, rarely even needing diaper cream. She seems OK w/ canned pineapple in juice, but the fruit cocktail syrup is lethal.

Lori--I hope the second round of antibiotic does the trick!

As for us, Hannah had a couple of rough nights this past week. Possibly teething (she still has only 7 fully visible teeth!), possibly a cold. It's been hard to distinguish snot from drool lately! I woke up in the middle of the night with nasty congestion and sinus pressure so perhaps she's been more miserable than I thought.

She's done a few things that have surprised me lately. First, all of a sudden she likes pasta (especially lasagna--possibly b/c I told her it tastes just like pizza, which she LOVES) and broccoli. She also actually initiated putting the sifter and citrus juicer away in their appropriate cabinets. Of course I heaped praise on her for cleaning up. Lastly, she's starting to pretend play. I watched her give her stuffed puppy some water from her sippy cup, then sit down to "read" him a book. She also picked up the computer mouse, said "Hello?", then had a gobbledygook conversation. So, so funny.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow!

-Laura

[ellery]

Wow. I had to do some serious searching to find this thread! I'm guessing everyone is very busy with holiday stuff and general family busy-ness?

It's been quite busy in our household. We visited with family in Charlotte for Thanksgiving, despite Danny waking up Thanksgiving morning with a 104 fever and chills. He was such a trooper that weekend, though, and really puts me to shame. He's such a nicer person than I am when I'm sick!

He had another fever again this weekend, and another bout of HORRIBLE SCARY diaper rash which has morphed into yet another yeast infection. So I feel like I'm definitely earning my mom merit badges since I now no longer flinch at fevers and am becoming an expert on yeast infections.

His language is really taking off recently - he's talking a lot more in general (in baby Martian) and there for about a week had a new word a day (bubble, puppy, ball, mommy, all done, baby), which is pretty exciting. Everyone swears that you look back and long for the days that they're not talking, but for the moment I'm enjoying him being able to communicate and being able to understand what he's saying.

Not so fun is his return to the clingy phase. He's been through it twice so far throughout his life, but has it bad this go round. As in, I'm standing a foot away from him and move to do something and he starts sobbing and hanging on to my leg with the death grip (um, I'm fixing you a cup of milk, can you chill out?). He's very emotional in the mornings and evenings as well, so even just putting a shirt on him can be cause for the waterworks. (And naturally, by the way, he's perfectly fine at daycare. Independent, cheerful, patient, etc. Urgh!) I'm chalking it up to a phase, or that he's been sick with one thing or the other the past few weeks so he's not quite himself, but DH is having a hard time with it. If DH goes to pick Danny up and I'm anywhere nearby he starts sobbing and reaching out to me with the plaintive "mommy, mommy, mommy". Poor DH. He got some playtime in with Danny last night when I sneaked upstairs, but I hate having to hide on the weekends so he can get some playtime in. I enjoy playing with him too!

And DH snapped at me last night telling me that I'm spoiling Danny by catering to him when he's clingy, but I honestly don't know what else to do. When he's standing there sobbing hysterically, tears and snot streaming down, it's a choice between pick him up and comfort him (and hope this phase is over soon) or ignore him and have him sob harder? All kinds of things are freaking him out lately - Santa, this morning's music concert at school, etc. and it feels like he's running a little low on his emotional glue. He's currently got a cold, so for all I know he's got a headache and feels like crap...

I don't know. To pick up or not to pick up, that is the question...

Anyway, that's us. How's everyone else?

[LA98]

Hi Leah, thanks for reviving the thread! I thought about it the other day but never got around to actually doing it...

A big YAY for Danny's words! That is so, so great! And fun. Jason hasn't acquired much more than he had, although he now says Santa and when we're in the car he says "la la" which is his way of requesting that I play the Banana Splits theme song. (It's the "Tra La La" song in case you all are much younger than me!) A proud parenting moment indeed. LOL

Sorry to hear about the fever, was it just a virus? Poor guy. And that diaper rash, eesh. Hate those nasty ones. But isn't it a great feeling when you can look at something and know just what it is and what to do for it? Experience is such a handy thing to have.

I can see why your DH would think that picking Danny up will reinforce the clinging, but I don't believe that comforting children when they're upset (*especially* at this age with no or not much language to express themselves, plus it's prime time for developing irrational fears, etc) spoils them. They look to you when they're scared or upset because they know you can (and will) help them. If we didn't help them, I'd be afraid that plants an idea somewhere in their subconscious that they can't depend on you...

Jason's right there with Danny with the return of separation anxiety, only in his case, all he wants is DADDY. All day long, he calls for Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. It's a good thing my feelings don't get hurt easily. He doesn't want me to put him to bed, and the other night when I was trying to put on his coat, he took it out of my hands and brought it to DH to have him put it on! I try to think of it as he's giving me a much-needed little break here and there...

Jason's ear was not cleared up after the second round of antibiotics I posted about here, and so we went on to do a third. That did the trick, but it earned him a referral to the ENT. This means we'll probably be 2 for 2 on kids with tubes in their ears. He's actually still pointing at his ears a lot, but he's also chewing on his fingers and all sorts of toys, way in the back of his mouth, so we're thinking those 2-year molars are on their way... Oh, and for the past month he's been waking up every couple of hours every night like he's a newborn or something. It's been horrible and it needs to stop!

[LHBryan]

Hi Leah and Lori. Happy Holidays!

Leah--So sorry Danny's been having a tough time with fevers, rashes, and clinginess. Ugh. I hope the rash has cleared up by now. Those are the worst and oh so hard to clear up (especially if you have a frequent pooper like my LO). Those clingy phases--and times when they're low on emotional glue, as you put it--come and go, so hopefully it'll pass soon. IMO, your DH shouldn't take it so personally. (I know, easier said than done.) I think it's more important for Danny to know that you're there for him when he needs you. When he's having a good day and not so clingy, remind DH what he's like when he's feeling more himself and that when he's emotional and exhibiting lots of what my friend calls "Mama Drama," that it's probably b/c he's not feeling 100%. You can remind DH that he was probably the same way with his Mom when he was little.

That's great news about all of Danny's words! I too never tire of Hannah's words and get so excited when I can decipher martian. I'm sure I'll feel differently in a year or so when all of the "WHY?s" start.

Lori--That's too bad about the ENT referral, but I'm glad the infection finally cleared up. Hope the appt. goes well. Did tubes work well for Brian? Ugh on the bad sleep lately too. That's no fun at all. Do the night wakings require "intervention," or is he able to go back to sleep on his own? Knock on wood, Hannah typically does really well at night (only occasionally crying a bit or talking in her sleep), but if we have a second LO I really dread the whole lack of sleep issue again. It took Hannah a year to sleep through the night. Ever since that beautiful 1-year mark, I've become very protective of my own need for sleep.

We're doing well. Hannah loves the Christmas "tee" and "yights." She had a good 18-mo. check-up 2 weeks ago. I believe she's ~40th% for weight and 80th% for height. She still says "Wow!" (drawn out to 4 syllables) all the time, especially now that she realizes it makes us laugh. I think she's going to be the class clown. We're still waiting on more teeth to pop through. She's been stuck at 7 forever! Those little suckers really cause her grief.

So, do your LOs become obsessed with different word/concepts and repeat them incessantly? Hannah's current obsessions: the moon (says "Mooooon?" about 200 times/day), boo boos (I'm afraid her vaccinations traumatized her--especially the bandaids), and cake. The cake story is pretty funny. A little girl in Hannah's class is from Italy and her mother brought in a homemade Italian cream cake for her DD's birthday on Tuesday. Apparently the cake was rather sophisticated in flavor, with lots of amaretto and vanilla. The kids were pretty indifferent towards it at snack time--except Hannah. She "hoovered" it, according to her teachers, and kept asking "Moh? Peez?" I asked her if she had cake at school that day and she said, "Yeah. Cake. Mmmmm." She's still talking about cake non-stop! I've also noticed that she says an exaggerated "Mmmm" after every bite of food she really likes (last night it was really cheesy scrambled eggs), almost like Giada or Rachel Ray. I think we have a future foodie (or glutton) on our hands!

What are everyone's plans for the holidays?