PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[Kunzite]

pupp, I know you've got your hands full but I saw this list of LATCH limits and car seat weights and I thought of you: http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=2438668&postcount=123

 

[noelwr]

hi mommas! hope you had lovely Valentine's Days, for whomever celebrated. we didn't do anything special (but then again we manage to have a date night almost every week), which is fine with me because as a parent of a small child, sometimes going to bed on time and getting a good sleep is the best gift you can get. S has been sleeping through the night for about 1.5 months now, but somehow I still manage to feel tired a lot.

potty-training is going well, though she's now peed in bed 2x (luckily it's in the morning, not in the middle of the night) and yesterday she had an accident after a week of dry panties. I guess at this age, I can't expect it all to happen at once. it'll probably be a process of a couple of months where as every week passes by, she has less accidents. the great thing is that she peed on a public toilet! we went away to Thailand this past weekend, and I was worried about potty-training, but she asked to use the toilet on the plane and at the airport and had no problems as I held her up over the toilet.

Chinese New Year was last weekend, so here some photos of decorating the pussy willow (just like we do a Christmas tree), and her traditional costume for the school party.



and here a couple of pics from Thailand.

 

[Kunzite]

Noel, such cute pictures as usual! I'm so jealous of the PT! It sounds like S is a rock star! I don't think we're ever going to be there at this rate.

LV, how is the sleep going?

I know I said a few pages back that we'd found a good sleep schedule, but it's out of control again! In the last 2 weeks O has refused his nap 5 times!! From everything I've read it sounds like he's trying to drop it. He's way too young for that. I just don't know what to do anymore. For now I'm just going with it and put him to bed early when he doesn't nap. I can't make him sleep!

Does anyone want to weigh in on milk? We switched O to 2% last fall, but he drinks so much that I switched him to 1%. He'll drink some water but not much, plus he's not much of an eater. So now I'm worried he might have needed the extra fat in the 2%. Has anyone done any research on this?

 

[lliang_chi]

Noel, I love seeing pictures of you S and following your adventures in Singapore. How did S enjoy Chinese New Year? Do they call it Spring Festival there too? Apparently that's what they call it in China, but BELIEVE me, there's nothing remotely Spring-like in the weather here in cold Chicago.

Kunzite, oh O is just trying to grow up too fast! It seems like he wants to do EVERYTHING early. I don't have any advice on milk, but my uneducated guess would be to give him the fattier milk, but less of it? Hoping he'll eat more. If he eats milk, will he eat yogurt or cheese? Then maybe you can introduce other foods to him. Is it a texture thing that he doesn't want to eat?

Wanted to pop in here since Ethan turned 1 yr old on Sunday. And we're officially in toddlerhood since he's now slowly walking around. I finally caught it on video so I'm planning on sharing with with family.

But while we're making introductions, here's Ethan. Pictures from with his birthday cupcake not pulled off the camera yet.

~LC

 

[noelwr]

welcome to this thread Ethan, and happy birthday! did you have a nice birthday party?

lc - gong xi fa cai! I haven't heard it referred to as Spring Festival here, but could be since we don't really have seasons here, though it's been much cooler Dec-Feb than previous months and should be getting very hot again in March. Skye enjoyed her party at school and they ate steamboat, but she also ended up burning her chin on scalding water and ended up in the emergency room. luckily she only had a blister on her chin which was gone in a couple of days. she found the whole exchanging of mandarin oranges very interesting and loved to throw them on the floor shouting "Bouncy! Bouncy!" but they didn't bounce...

Kunzite - maybe give 2% milk, but less of it, and other times try a little juice diluted with water. it will taste a little bit sweet and might interest him in drinking something other than milk. S is now really into cornflakes (plain) with milk so you could try that. also yoghurt is a good substitute for milk.

Freke - regarding potty training, I think as soon as they can sit up straight, you can already put them on a potty. as S used to be on a routine with meals, she would also have routine bowel movements. so it was always after she woke up in the morning on the potty and then after dinner. we would just play fun games while she sat on there for 5 minutes. when she got big enough to sit on the kiddy seat on the toilet, we transitioned her to there. when she learned to associate the feeling to go poo with saying "poo poo", she stopped pooing in her diaper. and that has made the PT now so much easier as she only has to work on not peeing in her diaper (which goes well) and not in bed (still have accidents).

in other news, a kid in Skye's class has hand, foot and mouth disease (very common in Singapore) so we kind of expect Skye to catch it as well. so far now symptoms.

 

[lliang_chi]

Noel, Hand, foot, mouth is HORRIBLE. I had it when Ethan started daycare last year. OMG. Now I'm *NEVER* one to be all "Poor Me"/big baby that we all know people/husbands can be. But when I had hand foot mouth I couldn't eat, couldn't swallow, basically just wanted to curl up in bed and make everything go away. Perhaps it's one of those viruses that are worse for adults than kids (like chicken pox). Anyway, I"m hoping Skye will just spike a fever and call it a day.

We haven't had Ethan's birthday party yet. This weekend we just moved my ILs up to Chicago for a short term stay. MIL is having health issues so she's going to get treated in one of the hospitals here. But next weekend we'll do dim sum or lunch with everyone. Hoping to have a nice birthday celebration for him.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I've been lurking on this thread for a bit now (admittedly because I can't get enough cute toddler pics) and am finally ready to join! I officially have a 1-year-old as of last week. I'm still astonished.

I'm totally one of those obnoxious moms who feels like she won some sort of baby lottery and ended up getting the best baby ever. In general Katie is laid-back, sweet and funny. But at times I think she will have a "spirited" streak in her. When she gets focused on something, she isn't easily distracted. It's fine if she's playing with a toy, but if the thing she's focused on is...say, playing in the toilet water, it's less fun.

Sorry to start off with a question for you ladies, but I can't help it. When did you really stop giving your kid a bottle or nursing? I know they are supposed to stop with the bottle when they are 1, but K still downs a 10oz. bottle of formula first thing in the morning and since it's full of nutrients, I hate to take it away from her. The rest of the day she has water, cow's milke or watered-down juice from a straw sippy cup, it's just that one bottle she still likes.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, how's Katie's appetite in the morning? Does she *want* to eat? If she's not that interested in eating breakfast I'd hold off on stopping that first bottle. Can you try giving it to her in a sippy cup? Then maybe replace it with cow's milk, so she's more "hungry" in the morning. Then she'll maybe get used to eating in the AM.

We're phasing formula out for Ethan but still give him a bottle at night before bed and in the morning upon waking. He usually finishes the last bottle but doesn't always finish the morning one. I think this will be his last week of formula, and also his dream feed. He's pretty happy to eat so I don't think I'll have an issue with dropping formula. I'm working on dropping the amount of milk he drinks. he's taking about 30oz a day now. Dropping the dream feed will get him down to 25 oz. I'd like to get him around 18-20 oz, and just give him milk @ meals.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Wow, E is a good drinker! I think that's one of the main reasons I keep the morning bottle--Katie barely drinks anything throughout the day. She has her morning 10 oz. bottle, then she has about 6 oz. water, maybe 3 oz. of milk and a couple of ounces of juice throughout the rest of the day. I feel like I have sippy cups everywhere so she can drink at any time.

I don't know if she's eating a lot or a litte--she has her 1-year appt today and I'm going to ask the doctor. This is a random day:

Breakfast: 1.5 pancakes + half a banana
Lunch: 1.5 cups of steamed carrots, half of an apple, 2 - 3 small salmon patties (size of a half dollar or so)
Snack: 1 thing of string cheese--she'll eat 2 if I offer another
Dinner: 1 cup chicken and quinoa, 1 container yogurt (sometimes two), 1 container applesauce, 3 arrowroot cookies

She drinks water or milk with every meal, but only a couple of ounces. I always offer her water or milk at storytime before bed, but she'll have an ounce at most. She hasn't had a dream feed since she was <6 months old, so I just don't think she's used to drinking before bed. She's always had a pretty hearty appetite in the mornign. How much is E eating these days?

 

[Kunzite]

Happy birthday to Sylvie, Ethan, and Katie

NEL, I think you'd be fine to drop that bottle whenever you're ready. I think once you drop it she'll likely start drinking a little more during the day. There was a thread awhile back that made me realize that we were expecting O to drink far more than he really needed ([URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-much-milk-does-your-toddler-drink.169623/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-much-milk-does-your-toddler-drink.169623/[/URL]). After reading that I was happy when he got close to 10oz or so a day. Now, after worrying he wouldn't get enough, he'll try to drink 6 cups a day if I let him! Don't feel pressure to drop the bottle just because of her age though. O wasn't 100% off bottles until 15 months.

 

[lliang_chi]

Kunzite, I remember following you guys along when you finally weaned O from the bottle. So funny that he's a milk FIEND now.

Question for older mamas: We give Ethan a bottle before bed. He often drinks himself to sleep. On occasion he has fallen asleep without milk (either by rocking or stroller or car rides), so I know he *can* but he's just used to getting a bottle. I guess my question is, how hard is it to break him of the bottle with bed habit?

 

[FrekeChild]

A sprouted two more teeth when we weren't paying attention! Crazy kiddo!

This is how A operates:
Breakfast: handful of Cheerios, yogurt w/ fruit
Hour later: 6oz bottle of cows milk
Pre-nap: 8oz bottle of formula
Post-nap/late lunch: string cheese/slice of cheese, whole wheat crackers, Cutie/apple/banana/pear, couple dried cranberries, maybe some fruit or veggie puree, some kind of cookie
Hour later: 6oz cows milk
Dinner: yogurt/veggie/protein puree, plus whatever she'll eat off our plates (beans, green beans, rice, etc)
Bed time bottle: 6oz formula

She gets a sippy cup of water with all of her meals. She has always been a bit of a mess when it comes to eating because of her inherited super easy gag reflex, so I kind of give her the benefit of the doubt and let her go as slow as she wants and she gets to eat just about anything she wants/will actually eat.


NEL, I'm surprised to hear that they are supposed to be off the bottle at 12 months. We talked to our ped about it at A's 15 month check up Tuesday and she said that it's really a 2 year thing, but that last bedtime bottle is really a tough one to break.

LC, we never "broke" her of the habit, she still has a bottle before bed, but she doesn't go to sleep to it anymore (unless she's REALLY tired) and insists on settling in herself before falling asleep. Can he fall asleep without the bottle?

 

[pavelover]

Hi NEL I'm not sure what the pedi said but I'm pretty sure you can look at the yogurt and applesauce as containing water? I think?

 

[geri]

Welcome LC and NEL! Congratulations on your first year of motherhood!

In relation to milk, we recently dropped the bottles at just before 2. I am in Australia so not sure whether things are different here, but I was also told by all the health professionals to drop the bottles by 1 but I found amongst my friends that very few dropped the bottles by 1 and many continued for much longer (to 2 and well beyond in some cases). I tried a couple of times to drop them but she refused to drink any milk from a sippy cup and I couldn't be bothered with the tantrums so I let it go. C was on 2 bottles of about 6-7 oz a day of formula (one morning and one at night) when we dropped the bottles at just before 2. In our case, she didn't miss the evening bottle at all (she ate well and hadn't used the bottle to go to sleep so she was actually using it as a delaying tactic to go to bed!) but boy was she a cranky pants in the morning for a few weeks! Initially she refused any milk at all no matter how we tried to give it to her but a month on and she has 2-3 half cups (8-12oz) of full milk a day plus cheese, yoghurt, smoothies and baby chinos. It's nice to not have to clean bottles any more but in our case I don't think it did her any harm to have bottles for a bit longer. Best of luck deciding what is best for your family.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Thanks, all, I really appreciate the feedback. I talked with K's ped on Friday and he made me feel better. Kunzite--the doc said that he doesn't get concerned unless a toddler is having <8 oz. per day total and I immediately thought of you. Pavelover, the ped said the same thing you did, that she gets enough fluids from the food she eats.

Freke, which teeth did A sprout? K's getting a molar and it seems to be bothering her more than her incisors did

LC, I'm a bad judge of how difficult it is to drop that last bottle. K eats dinner from 6 - 6:30 or 6:40, then we go up for her bath at 6:45, so by the time we're out of the bath and getting into bed, she's still full, I think . She'll have another ounce of milk or so, but that's it. A friend of mine with a 13-month-old is also trying to drop that last feed.

Geri, thanks for sharing--a couple of my friends are also keeping the bottle because their kids won't drink milk from anything else. We started a straw sippy cup awhile ago (6 months ago or so) and K seemed to like it from the get-go, but still seems to like a bottle first thing in the morning.

 

[lliang_chi]

Don't forget it's Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, Mar 10th. I'm trying to move Ethan's bed time up a little bit each day so when Sunday/Monday rolls around, he's adjusted to going to bed at the new 8PM. But he's been sleeping so well putting him down 15 mins earlier, maybe I'll try moving his bedtime to 7:45 or 7:30 on a permanent basis. That will at least give me more time to make dinner and hang out with DH.

NEL, how was Katie's 12M check up? How tall is she now? She's a little bean pole at her 9M, I'm wondering if that's still the case. How can you tell that K's getting a molar? Ethan's still needs to sprout some bottom teeth but he's got pretty much a full set of uppers (fronts, that is)

Geri, is Claudia on formula? May I ask if it's the same as infant formula (my thoughts are no)? And is there a reason why she's on that instead of cow milk? So how did you transition C away from a bottle first thing she wakes in the AM? Does she eat breakfast first thing after she wakes/diaper change? I'm not sure what I'll be doing for Ethan. I usually feed him. Then if he goes back down, more snoozes. But lately he just stays up, so I change him, then let him cruise around a little. About 7AM I put him in his chair for breakfast with water.

Freke, thanks for A's schedule. How long does it take A to finish her meals? It takes Ethan well over 30 mins at home. I dunno if I'm just giving him too long to eat. Maybe I should clean him up at 15 mins after. It'd make my mornings a lot easier not waiting for him. But I remember being a very slow eater growing up. I just wait until Ethan answers that he's done after I repeatedly ask him if he's "All done?" Ethan does fall asleep without the bottle, but it's either a fuss-fest with me rocking him, or it's in the car or in the stroller.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, thanks for the DST reminder, I'd completely forgotten. I also used to have K's bedtime at 8pm, but started moving it closer to 7 because she slept better. It also meant more time to get things done or spend time with DH in the evenings. She would wake up at 5am for a bottle, then go back to sleep until close to 7. Now, however, she's just waking up around 6:15 and staying awake, so I might experiment with a later bedtime since the clocks are moving forward, anyway.

K's 12 month appt. went well--she's a little over 31 inches and is 21 lbs. Most of her 12 - 18 month clothes are getting short now. I like the adjustable-waist pants so I can tighten them. Did E get his finger pricked at his appt.? K did and they seemed to need a lot of blood. I was getting light-headed watching. Oh, and the molar--she was really mouthy, so I just felt the back of her gums and noticed her lower right side was really swollen. It finally broke through yesterday and I can't feel any other molars coming in. It's her 9th tooth.

How does E answer if he's all done? Can he say "done" when you ask? The only way I can tell if K is done is if she starts chucking her food off of her high-chair. Although she always seems to have room for a little cookie...she must get that from me.

 

[FrekeChild]

Freke, thanks for A's schedule. How long does it take A to finish her meals? It takes Ethan well over 30 mins at home. I dunno if I'm just giving him too long to eat. Maybe I should clean him up at 15 mins after. It'd make my mornings a lot easier not waiting for him. But I remember being a very slow eater growing up. I just wait until Ethan answers that he's done after I repeatedly ask him if he's "All done?" Ethan does fall asleep without the bottle, but it's either a fuss-fest with me rocking him, or it's in the car or in the stroller.

She takes forever. Since we've had such crazy eating issues since the beginning, I tend to be really easy on her when it comes to food. She likes to play with it a lot, unfortunately, unless she's really hungry, or maybe if she likes what she's eating enough. Smoked Gouda and Cuties - I can't get her to slow down!

Upper teeth:
Central incisors
lateral incisors

Lower teeth:
Central incisors
First molars

The molars just popped up in the last two weeks. She HATES when we try to poke around in her mouth (probably has to do with the gag reflex thing), so I try to keep it at a minimum and really only harass her about it when it comes to teeth brushing. But as a result, we didn't have any real idea until she was playing the other day, laughing with her head back and I was like, "Are those TEETH?!?!"

Not going to lie, we had her cry it out to fall asleep on her own. The first week sucked. Now, 5ish months later, she tends to play with her toys in her crib until she passes out (from what I can tell!) and I think she really looks forward to it every day. She goes down much easier for her naps - usually falling asleep within 10 minutes, but night time usually takes about 15-45 minutes for her to settle down and fall asleep. I certainly prefer it! Plus I love listening to her play with her stuffed animals over the monitor....

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL,Ethan knows the sign for "All Done" so when he makes it, I just pick up the tray. I'm pretty sure he's associating the sign with the removal of food. I can't believe Katie's growing out of her 12M-18M clothes. Ethan's squarely in his month-sized clothes, and I can get him in 9M pants still. He's got a round BELLAH, and a big noggin' so he outgrows the shirts before the pants. He's firmly in the 70th percentile for height & weight. I have found that I'm running out of 12M sleepers so I should pick up some more. Wow, I can't believe Katie's so good with you nosing around in her mouth. Ethan HATES it. Kinda like Freke's A.

Freke, Ethan's got six teeth on top and still only 2 on the bottom. Ethan LOVES grilled cheese and he'll keep eating it if I don't stop him. Ethan's like Miss A and *hates* when I stick fingers/toothbrushes/etc in his mouth. I tried to get him to copy me by putting a tooth brush in my mouth, but it doesn't really work. I'm going to get those banana brushes and see if that helps. *LOVE* her little dimples!

 

[pancake]

Hello everyone! Sorry we're a bit late. Dot/Sylvie turned 1 on February 13 and we just had her party extravaganza on Sunday afternoon Looking forward to getting to know all of you who I've not known before, and it's nice to catch up with mums of babies a bit older than mine who used to be in the NB-12 thread!

Re milk, my thoughts...

kunzite, I don't think you need to worry about the fat content of the milk that O drinks, but I would have a look at the volume that he consumes. Over the age of 12 months, it's generally recommended that toddlers have no more than 600ml (~20 ounces) of milk a day, otherwise they are a) at risk of iron deficiency and anaemia (this is about the milk itself as well as the amount of solid food that it "displaces" in their diet, and b) they won't eat. O's at a tricky age to try and change this stuff, but if he's really drinking that much then it would be in his interests for that to be pegged back. He'll resist in a way that only toddlers can, but his solids intake will pick up eventually as well once he figures out and accepts that more milk is not forthcoming.

NEL, I don't really see what the problem is with an early morning bottle Also, with fluids - I wouldn't worry too much, Katie won't let herself dry out so she will definitely drink when she's thirsty. I think some kids just drink more than others do! Sounds like she's eating heaps!

From a Dot perspective - she's still breastfeeding so it's a bit different. Looking at the amount I express when I'm at work (just one pump session), it's only 100ml so I think that on the days I'm home, she probably gets about 400-500ml per day out of 3-4 feeds, with the biggest by far being in the morning.

Our typical diet is something like this at the moment - Dot's just finished a period of rapid growth and her intake has slowed accordingly:

7am breastfeed
7:45 breakfast - usually a slice of toast with butter and Vegemite, or one Weetbix with full-cream milk. Maybe some fruit.
11am breastfeed and snack - cheese and crackers, or fruit, or yoghurt
12:30 lunch - depends on what we're having that day. Quantity-wise, an example would be 3/4 of a toasted sandwich with chicken, avocado, mayo and cheese? Then some fruit or yoghurt as well if she wants it.
2pm breastfeed
4pm snack - usually just fruit
5:30 dinner - a bowl of pasta, or a bowl of rice with meat and veggies, or maybe a flathead fillet and some vegies. Plus or minus fruit.
6:45 breastfeed

When she's in a "hungry phase" I would estimate that she almost doubles the above! On most days she'll drink about 300ml of water as well, it's the height of summer here so it's hot!

In general, things are great! I've started my PhD though, so I'm away from her 3.5 days/week, which I hate. I'm not sure that that's going to change (the dislike of being away from her that is!). I like what I'm doing and it interests me greatly etc, but I would just rather be at home. Dot's totally delightful at the moment - a happy little chatterbox! She has about 5 or 6 words now (although it goes up and down as to whether she uses them) and understands both Vietnamese and English. She's a bit slower on the gross motor stuff and is just pulling to stand now - takes after her dad's side of the family (my MIL describes the three boys as "happy kids who didn't move until late"). She is loooooooong and lanky - we went for a maternal and child health nurse visit yesterday and she's on the 75th centile for weight, but above the 98th for head circumference and length! Giant baby.

 

[pancake]

Not sure why my pics came out sideways?

 

[Kunzite]

kunzite, I don't think you need to worry about the fat content of the milk that O drinks, but I would have a look at the volume that he consumes. Over the age of 12 months, it's generally recommended that toddlers have no more than 600ml (~20 ounces) of milk a day, otherwise they are a) at risk of iron deficiency and anaemia (this is about the milk itself as well as the amount of solid food that it "displaces" in their diet, and b) they won't eat. O's at a tricky age to try and change this stuff, but if he's really drinking that much then it would be in his interests for that to be pegged back. He'll resist in a way that only toddlers can, but his solids intake will pick up eventually as well once he figures out and accepts that more milk is not forthcoming.

Thanks for the info pancake! Just to clarify, he's not allowed to have 48oz of milk a day, that's just what he WANTS! We keep him around 24oz, which I know is still a little too much. He has a white cup (milk) and a blue cup (water) in the fridge, and when the milk is gone it doesn't get refilled until a certain time. That doesn't stop him from bringing me the cup and the gallon of milk when he wants more though!! I did cave and give him more yesterday (mommy fail) because it was one of those days and all three of them were just piling it on (I swear they feed on each other), but I only gave him 1oz and sent him on his way (milk win). I consider that a draw.

 

[lliang_chi]

Wow Kunzite, O can carry over a gallon of milk all by himself? You've got one beefy little boy! And hey, it wasn't a MommyFail if you guys all made it through the day.WE all have one of those.

Last night I got SO ANNOYED at my DH. I was feeding Ethan, making dinner, cleaning dinner prep, change Ethan for bed and fix a bottle all at the same time. While DH... sat on the couch? Futzed on his computer. I was SO PISSED. Then he mosey's on over and "tries" to be helpful by I dunno, standing around. Gah! And it's not like he DOESN"T know Ethan needs to eat, needs ot be changed, go to bed etc. And I hadn't had a moment to even pee, let alone change clothes. So DH was like, "You want me to put him down?" No freaking WAY! That's the best part of the day and I just spent 10 mins with him SCREAMING at me during the diaper change. No way I'm letting you take that. I get out and what's DH doing? Snoozing on the couch. Granted "he's sick", and knows nothing about cooking but holy cow it was hard.

OMG is anyone else's toddler HATING diaper changes now? Ethan used to not mind them but now he HATES them. WTF?

 

[Kunzite]

Do I need to come slap your DH, LC? Not cool at all.

And OMG, yes! That was the main part of why yesterday was sooooo terrible. O seems to always poop while asleep but hates to have his diaper changed right when he wakes up. I'm not going to let him walk around with poop! So after a nearly 10 minute tantrum, thrashing around on the floor like a fish out of water, I thought we were good. Then I got kicked in the face. I suppose that's an improvement from the morning diaper change when he got poop everywhere. M has taken to scratching my hands and drawing blood when I change him and E is so strong he just rolls over, poop or not! Ugh. It should only take two seconds to change a diaper!

That makes poor O sound like a hellion! Ha! He's really not, at all. He's normally such a well mannered kid. Like I said, they just feed on each other sometimes.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, diaper changes and dressing K are my two nemesis right now. K squirms so much that I actually do both on the floor because I'm convinced she's going to fall off of her changing table or jump out of her pack and play. I used to distract her with toys and sing songs she likes in order to amuse her, but lately I've been more stern and just tell her to "wait" and "be still" until I'm done. Sometimes she cries if she can tell I'm frustrated (and she's frustrated, too), but usually if she's crying, she's squirming less, so...yeah.

Also, my husband isn't helpful. It is what it is. I have friends with super helpful husbands who swoop in and take care of the kids or can go to the grocery store and whip up dinner. That isn't my husband. When I'm juggling a million things, I give him the easiest tasks. Feeding K is pretty easy since all the food is prepped and ready to go. Or I have him take her in another room so I can focus and finish a task at hand. There is some resentment and we have talked about going to marriage counseling (finding time is the hardest part), but I've mostly just accepted that I'm on my own and do most of the heavy lifting at home.

Kunzite, it sounds like O is a growing, hungry boy! I feel like 24 oz. is not bad--like Pancake said, the concern is mostly about kids filling up on milk and not getting other nutrients, but it sounds like O eats quite a bit, too.

Pancake, it's great to see you here! I love those pics of S, she is getting sooo big!!! K is long and lanky, too. I actually think she may have walked sooner if she weren't so long and lanky. She's got her father's skinny feet, so I was convinced she couldn't balance on those little feet. S hasn't had a haircut yet, right? I feel like I constantly have K's bangs in a barrette because they are so long. But the rest of her hair doesn't need trimming, yet.

Freke, A is so darned cute. Those dimples kill me every time! And it sounds like she did really well with her molars. I thought K would be okay with her molars coming in because she was never too bad with her incisors, but so far the molars have been the worst. I hope the rest are better! How do you feed A the cuties, does she just eat the little slices? They aren't too pulpy, right? I might start buying them for K. We have some smoked gouda at home, maybe I'll give her a bit of that tonight. K also plays with her toys in her crib. She falls asleep almost immediately, but she wakes up without making any noise, so I usually don't know she's awake until I look at the monitor and see her playing.

AFU, two things:
1. We're moving to 1 nap this weekend. Sort of frustrating that I'm making sleep changes on a daylight savings time weekend, but oh well. K was doing 2 naps/day at home and 1 nap/day at daycare, but last weekend she didn't sleep in the afternoons and then was really overtired by bedtime. So this weekend I'm just making the switch.

2. K took her first steps a month ago and has completely phased out crawling. I kind of miss seeing her crawl around. She used to crawl if she wanted to get to something quickly, but now she practically runs.

 

[Puppmom]

LC, my DH can be oblivious sometimes too. With two now though he pretty much knows he's on toddler duty unless I specifically say I can take N1. I just had to have a talk with him because I'm currently doing all the cleaning because I'm home, feeling good and have the time. He seems to have taken this as permission to stop picking up after himself. For days I would find an empty beer bottle on my counter and coffe grinds poured all over the dishes in the sink!

Re: diaper changes. N1 hates them too. When you tell him it's time to get changed he says, "No, I gonna hide!"

There was a time when MIL was only changing him once a day because she didn't want to piss him off.

 

[lliang_chi]

Re: diaper changes, Thank GOD! I thought it was just me. Ethan SCREAMS and squirms whenever I change his diaper. Getting dressed isn't so bad but diaper changes, forget it! I always have a toy (one of his bath toys) and I'm always singing and trying to distract him via eskimo kisses but HOLY COW it is exhausting. I feel like telling him, This would be 75% faster if you just let me do this instead of FIGHTING me all. the. time.

Kunzite, LOL that sounds like CrazyTown with THREE boys all hating diaper changes. And it definitely sounds like they're feeding off each other. At least when they're older hopefully they'll feed off each other being good? I remember we used to go to church and my mom used to "challenge" us (twin sis and brother 15 months older) who's the best behaved during church. Whoever "won" got to turn in the offering envelope.

NEL, sigh, it's hard to be the only on doing the heavy lifting. Do you hire help (e.g. a cleaning service or something)? I remember you saying you don't really have family near by. Unfortunately when Ethan cries he gets even MORE squirmy. I would love to give J easy tasks but seriously why can't he just figure it out himself. I can't tell you HOW MANY TIMES J has asked me: How much milk does Ethan get? Dude, he's YOUR SON TOO!

Pancake, I forgot to mention how much I *love* your little S and her polka dot outfit! So fantastic for her since you guys call her Dot. I think Ethan's pretty much on track for gross motor skills but I worry that his other mental development is behind. Like he doesn't really talk much. He knows 3 baby signs (Milk, all done and more). I also don't know if maybe it's just because we're not teaching him things, e.g. This is a ball, this is your nose etc." All this rambling to say, Sylvie sounds like she's doing splendidly and I just love pictures of your beautiful girl!

Oh and my go to Mommy Solution when I've had it: Wine. Lots of it I'm hurting for a wine stash so I ordered a half case to load up my wine rack. I think I'm going to tell DH to buy 2 bottles and some flowers tonight.

 

[parrot tulips]

Hello Ladies! I've been following this thread...just haven't been posting much. All the babes are getting so big! I love hearing how everyone is developing and changing. It's such a fun, albeit challenging time (trying to figure out what their changing wants/needs are).

I'm loving Ava at this age - she's now 16 months (14 adjusted). She's crawling everywhere and cruising along whatever she can get her hands on, so I'm sure walking is going to happen sooner than I'd like. I've enjoyed the fact that she's taking her time with this. She's not saying any clear words beyond "Mama" and "Dada," but she does point to things she wants saying "Dat," and can point to where her head, tummy, and nose are. She's not a big eater, and quite picky, which is our only real challenge. Since she's growing like a weed, and generally seems happy and energetic, I'm assuming she's getting what she needs. She'll occasionally throw a mini tantrum when we take away something she wants (phone, tv remote, daddy's dirty work shoes, etc.), but this usually happens when she's tired (close to bedtime or nap time). Bedtime is awesome (finally, after 14 months), because she goes down instantly without fuss (around 6:30-7), and sleeps a solid 12 hours. And she is now at an age when you can really see the enjoyment in her face when we do fun things like go to music class or Jumping Jacks (a local class for toddlers), our weekly play group, the park, the zoo, etc. And the best thing - I have a cuddly baby. She'll often throw her arms around my neck, rest her head on my shoulder, then proceed to pat my back.

 

[JGator]

I don't belong in this thread yet, but had to de-lurk to say - PT, that is so adorable that Ava pats you! You have such a sweet little girl!

And, LC, I remembered what I am missing - wine !!!! I am going to start dreaming about wine now. With the BF/Pumping/Pregnancy, I haven't had a glass of wine in over a year. Unfortunately, I don't make enough milk to pump and dump or I would consider that....

 

[pavelover]

Hi I was reading diaper changing stories from many of you so I thought I would offer what I did? It is potentially messy but you could do it in BR or on a surface you can wash/sterilize. I just let my toddler stand up. It was so much easier. I can't exactly remember how I got him not to run away but I know it worked- you do have to make sure it covers the butt well as its not quite as easy to get it on well. Just thought I'd put it out there.