PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[monkeyprincess]

Hi everyone! I'm in the throes of TTC#2 right now, so most of my PS posting is devoted to that subject, but I love following along and hearing what your little ones are up to and stealing your toy and gift ideas!

Things are getting fun at our house as Ev starts to develop his little personality and sense of humor. He likes to have sing-alongs to Old McDonald (he sings the "EIEIO" part right on cue) and the alphabet songs (he mumbles along). He is also getting really close to being able to stand independently and take a few steps. In other news, he has definitely hit the temper tantrum stage. There has been a lot of throwing his body on the floor and crying when he doesn't get what he wants. I think it directly correlates to his new ability/desire to communicate, and he gets made when he thinks we aren't understanding what he is asking for. Usually we know and we just don't want him to have what he wants or we are trying to get him what he wants, but it is not fast enough. We try to ignore it or divert his attention, but he is a stubborn little dude. Thankfully, the sweet silly side makes up for the tantrums!

Sorry, I didn't mean to make that so self-centered, but I will try to catch up with everyone later!

 

[jfo]

MP, much *dust* for TTC #2!!! I am not really following that thread since I'm not there yet, but I'll be sending positive vibes to everyone TTCing!

Sounds like Ev is doing really well. That is so cute that he is singing along to songs now! Hopefully he gets over the tantrum phase soon although I think that comes and goes over the next few years. I hope you've got the video rolling on his first few steps!

 

[lliang_chi]

Hey ladies, Wow this thread started hopping really quickly!

MP, Ev sounds like he's so fun! Ethan doesn't quite sing along but definitely requests songs "Row, row" (row your boat) and "Bus" (for The Wheels on the Bus) are his favorites right now. Then I also make up songs for other things he says like "Dada" "Cool Bus" "Munchee" (for monkey).

Jfo, don't beat yourself up too much about the combo vax vs the separate one for chicken pox. Dust that L doesn't have to deal with any side affects though.

Freke, your little jedi looks adorable! What a lucky girl with her prezzies

AMC, I thikn you're on your cruise, so hope you're having fun.

Mayer, Not saying that flying with a toddler is a piece of cake, but it really is a lot worse in anticipation than it actually is when you're going through it. Just pack lots of books/toys/activities and snacks/drinks for N. We've flown a bunch with Ethan (between 3 hrs all the way to 10 hr flight to Switzerland). It's definitely easier when they're babies, but it's not *that* bad his most recent jaunt (4 hr flight to CA). You start missing the pre-baby flights where you could read or sleep though. Man, I miss those.

NEL, K looks adorable in her poodle skirt! Her kitchen looks pretty sweet. Ethan is always in the kitchen too, but he literally pushes me away from the counter so I'll play with him. I've tried just giving him pots and wooden spoons to play with. That does entertain him for just a little while. maybe I should get those toy foodstuffs (carrots, meat, etc) so he can "make soup" etc. I've also just fed him in his high chair while I cooked/prepped dinner.

Monnie, A looks adorable with her punky pig tails. YES totally konw what you mean about keeping your dog away from food thrown on the floor. My dog also started getting food sensitivities so absolutely CANNOT eat anything besides her hypoallergenic food. I haven't CRATED her, but I do make her stay in her crate, then have to periodically give her kibble treats to keep her in there. It works most of the time, but sometimes she's just determined to get some scraps so I'm tell her to go to her room every 5 mins. Taht gets annoying.

AMC, JGator, Jfo, Mayer, you have to post passport photos! Ethan is 5 months old in his pic, he was barely sitting. We had to take it on the bed. I don't think I have it on any of my online storage, but I'll post it when I get home.

AFU: Not much new to add. Gave Ethan a haircut so here he is sporting the shorter hair. I'm mad at myself for cutting so much off. I love him with longer hair because he looks more baby and less grown up. J loves the short hair though so at least one of us is happy. My mom came up for the week while I was in S. Africa, and unfortunately he never quite warmed up to her. He'd play with her and let her read him books, but wouldn't let her give him a bath, take away his food tray and definitely not take him to and from daycare. I think she was a little sad, but I guess it's to be expected. She wistfully mentions how much she'd LOVE to live near us and do daycare drop off and pick up for us. TBH I'd love for someone else to do that too. Then we could actually eat dinner together.

Like MP I'm actively TTC for #2 as well, but haven't had much luck. My cycles are LONG (about 40 days) so it's a long goings...

 

[mayerling]

LC, N is a "seasoned" traveller having gone on six 4-to-5-hour plane trips, but an 11-hour journey at 18 months of age is a whole new ballgame. I know it'll probably be better than I imagine it but I'm worried nevertheless. I'm even more worried about the 10-hour time difference...
Also, I didn't know you were TTCing. Good luck!

AMC, have fun on your cruise! Have you tested yet?

MP, good luck with TTCing as well! I'm beginning to think I'm the only 2012 mama with no desire to have another one any time soon.

AFU, I'm trying to nip some of N's inappropriate behaviours in the bud. He's recently started hitting (I don't know where he picked it up since he doesn't go to daycare) and I want to put him in a time-out for it but I haven't had the chance since he didn't do it at a time when we were at home. I did put him in a time-out twice for playing with the water-cooler but he still did it today.

 

[lliang_chi]

Mayer, the time change SUCKS. No matter which way you slice it. BUT after 3 nights he should be adjusted enough to be able to fall asleep, and the beauty is he'll be used to staying up later so you can take him to dinner when you guys go out etc. Ethan was going to bed @ 10PM, so we were able to go out to dinner with friends etc and he was still pleasant enough to not be cranky etc.

Oh last time I'm super excited about! This week Ethan peed in the potty twice It was before his bath, and he hasn't done it the past 2 days. But hooray, that's progress.

 

[mayerling]

LC, yay for E using the potty!
I don't think the staying up later thing will work for us because we'll be traveling west. We'll all be ready to go to bed by 5pm probably, if not earlier, as it'll be 3am for us.

 

[lliang_chi]

Mayer, Oh no! Traveling west is the hardest! Yikes sorry to hear! We flew east to Europe. I keep forgetting you're COMING from Europe. Sigh, sorry about that. Hopefully it will just take N a few days to adjust.

 

[mayerling]

LC, thanks for the wishes. Let's hope we'll all adjust easily and that my in-laws won't mind too much when we're all up and making noise at 4am!

 

[JGator]

MP, good luck TTC #2! I'm rooting for you!

Jfo, how is L's rash? Hope she is back to her old self after the shots.

LC, Ethan is so adorable. I'm sure his passport picture is precious. K was about 5 months in hers too. I will try to find it. I know my SIL did some photoshop for us to make the background better. Sorry to hear that E didn't warm up to your mom. It's hard when your parents live far away. Do you do video chats with your Mom? My mom is not tech savvy enough, but my DH's parents have a weekly Google Hangout video chat with K on the weekends, and she's pretty interactive with them.

Mayer, when do you leave for the West Coast? We are heading in your direction the night before Thanksgiving. Our flight is at 10pm so we are hoping K will sleep on the way there. Also, maybe we will only adjust her schedule a few hours (and let her stay up late like LC suggested) so that it's not so hard to get readjusted to the time change on the way back. I know going West is much harder to deal with on the time change than going East. Good luck to you.

AFU, K has had 2 good nights of sleep lately - not consecutively but 2 good ones so I'm optimistic. Her nap today was horrible - she's actually sleeping on her daddy now (win for me that it isn't me for a change!!) in her bedroom rocking chair. Have a good weekend everyone!

 

[amc80]

Here is B's pic. We are off to board the ship. Have a great week!

 

[jfo]

LC, thanks so much. We’re on day 6 post-vaccinations, so if anything is going to show up, it will happen over the next several days. So far so good though. L’s tummy rash that initially showed up disappeared the next day. She now has another cold, but what else is new? Everyone I’ve seen in her daycare class has one too. Ethan is SO adorable! Is he sitting in his play kitchen sink? Gosh, you are an awesome mama—making his Halloween costume and cutting his hair too. I aspire to be more like you! That’s so awesome that he used the potty! How old is Ethan now? Best wishes for TTC #2 too! I know a few months ago that you were in the WBW thread. Hopefully that means your DH is on board now. I can’t say the same here. Since we bought our new house, the laundry list of items of things to do and buy have become front and center as well as the fact that it all requires lots of $$… Put another kid into the mix… eek not yet! So I think there’s some more life changes that need to happen before we TTC #2 even though I’m 35 and I feel like time’s a-ticking…

Mayerling, I don’t envy your journey westward and the time change that you all will have to adapt to, but hopefully visiting family and enjoying the holidays together will make it all worth it.

JGator, so glad to hear that K had a couple good nights of sleep. Crossing my fingers for you that it continues! Also, glad to hear that K is letting her daddy do more for her. I feel like L is moving in the opposite direction again. She only wanted me yesterday and was very clingy, which was very trying when I was trying to clean and cook dinner!

Amc, I love B’s smile in his passport photo! Hope you’re enjoying your cruise and that you might have some good news to share when you are back. DH wanted L’s passport photo to be more like a “passport photo”, so she is not smiling in it, but it’s still cute. We submitted her passport application on Saturday. Aside from waiting in line for an hour, it went pretty smoothly. I guess everyone is getting ready to travel for the holidays!

AFU, not too much new going here. L recently hasn’t shown any more interest in learning to walk after taking 5 or 6 steps last week. It may be due to her cold or something, but it seems like she’s much more tentative about letting go of my hand, and doesn’t even want to stand on her own. Hopefully it’s just because she’s feeling kinda crappy and will be back at it when she’s feeling better. Otherwise, DH and I have just been a bit stressed recently regarding the house. Being first time homeowners, having little things break and some other bigger issues pop up recently combined with DH realizing that he’s not a natural handy-man has put us on edge. Plus we are getting a little stir-crazy as we haven’t gone anywhere in a long time. We’re headed out of town for Thanksgiving next week to visit DH’s family so I’m looking forward to the break from the day-to-day right now.

 

[JGator]

AMC, B is super cute - have fun on your cruise! He looks like he always has great hair!

Jfo, for K's passport, we brought a couple photos to the post office, and the post office guy picked the one with the worst smile of the batch because he said it wasn't supposed to have a smile but that is hard with babies! Sorry to hear L has a cold again. I was hoping the colds would be a thing of the past with her after the ear surgery. I feel your pain on the house issues (let's revitalize that thread), and also on getting stir crazy. I used to live for vacations, and my life now with a baby has totally changed. I keep thinking how would this work in a hotel room with her going to bed early, etc. My DH and I have a ton of hotel and airline miles too so it's really a shame that we aren't using them. I don't consider our upcoming trip to Europe a vacation because it's visiting family, and I am petrified of the flight too!

AFU, last night, K was up every 45 mins starting around 3am. At around 6am, she was crying a lot even while being held, and I think it was teething pain. I took her on an early morning stroller ride, but she didn't fall asleep as I had hoped. She has been saying "baby" a lot. I don't know if she knows what it means, but everything is a baby. She seems to have stopped saying Mama, but she says Mimi (I don't know what that means). She's still cruising around, and still scooting instead of crawling. She likes putting things inside things and trying to put caps/lids on bottles. Also, she seems not interested in drinking milk from her sippy cup. So, she's still getting bottles with formula and sometimes bottles with milk. She will just drink a couple sips of milk out and seems disappointed that it's not water like she's used to from the sippy cup. With the older babies/toddlers, when did you stop using sleep sacks? And, what do you use - sleeper/footed pjs or can you use a real blanket now?

 

[mayerling]

I forgot to talk about N's passport picture. He has two passports; a US one and one from my country. For the European one, he had his picture taken at 3 weeks. For the US one, he had his picture taken at 6 weeks. I don't want to post them as I'm a bit averse to posting pics of him on PS.

JGator, I know what you mean about how visiting family is not really a vacation. In my case, it feels a lot like work.
Sorry to hear about K's sleep. I sympathise. N hasn't STTN in a few months now.

AMC, have fun on your cruise!

AFU, we set up our tree today and will start decorating soon. It's the first time that we're decorating because we've never spent the holiday period in our own house before. I'm so excited!

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, cute passport! Hope you are all having a lovely time!

JGator and Jfo, I can relate to a lot of what you are both saying, which makes sense given how close in age our little ones are. Ev will seem to have a burst of new things he is saying or doing, and then he seems to forget them or quits saying it for awhile. He was super close to trying to take steps, but lately, he is not interested at all. He will walk for pretty long distances around the house holding onto just one of our fingers, so I figure that is giving him good walking practice.

JGator, We stopped using sleep sacks several months ago, and he has just been sleeping in footed pajamas or pajamas and socks. We don't use any blankets yet (we're super paranoid though), so as it gets colder, I'm probably just going to switch to fleece and flannel pajamas.

LC, that's awesome that E is starting to use the potty! We recently took Ev in for his first haircut, and I initally had the same regrets about cutting off his little curls. But his hair was looking crazy unruly half the time, so I know it was for the best. But now that it is shorter, he has developed a habit of running his hands through his hair and ending up with crazy spikes

Mayerling, good luck with your trip! Don't feel bad about not being ready to TTC again. Plenty of people spread their kids out further or just stop at one. I think we are all just a bit baby crazy around here Thanks for the good wishes though. Really hoping I will be successful soon!

NEL, I love that picture of K in her poodle skirt. She looks so big and mature for a not yet two year old!

Monarch, I love A's pigtails!

Kunzite, your guys are as handsome as ever!

Freke, adorable costume!

Hope I caught everyone! Things are going along pretty well for us. Ev has this new table thing that plays all sorts of music, and he makes such a fool of himself swaying and crooning to the music. I love it. How can you stay in a bad mood after watching your little one perform his heart out! I am also getting a lot of little movie clips, so I don't ever forget how little and funny he was

 

[jfo]

Mayerling, how cool that N is a dual citizen! That’s exciting that you set up your tree and are getting ready for the holidays. We bought our first house a couple months ago, so we don’t have a tree yet. I’ll need to look into whether we are going to buy a real tree this year or get an artificial one. The fake ones are so incredibly expensive though… Plus I need to buy ornaments, lights, etc. Hmm…

JGator, ha, that’s funny that the post office guy picked the bad smile photo! Honestly, if it were just up to me, I would have picked the funniest photo we took of L, where she’s laughing and she’s actually pointing at herself, almost like she’s thinking, “yeah… me!”, but DH really liked the serious face photo. Oh well, I got to pick her Halloween costume this year… he can pick her passport photo. I was hoping L wouldn’t pick up colds as easily as before, but I guess it’s pretty unavoidable when all the kids in her class have it. So far so good on no ear infection though, so that’s the important part. And so far so good re any reaction to the MMRV vaccinations… knock on wood. Poor K—I hope she can get some relief from her teething pain! I bought L those hyland teething tablets, but I haven’t tried using it yet because L hasn’t had any new teeth come in for months now. I’ve heard that they are helpful, but I also imagine that it would be pretty temporary relief. Too cute how she’s saying “baby”! L is also into putting caps/lids on bottles. I tried getting L to use her Zoli straw sippy cup versus the Nuk sippies, and she refuses to use it, even if she’s thirsty. These babies are so stubborn sometimes!

Over the summer, L wasn’t using a sleep sack and just sleeping in cotton pajamas, but she’s been sleeping with her favorite baby blanket (actually my old baby blanket) in the crib with her for several months now. We actually have two of them that we alternate and they’re super duper soft and very thin (given their age and how many times they’ve been washed). Now that it’s cold where we live, L has been sleeping with fleece footed pajamas AND a sleep sack—although we modified the sleep sack so that it’s open at the bottom (like a skirt) so that she can kick her little legs around as she wants. I feel like her room in our new house can get pretty cool at night which is why I do both. Once we’re done with this winter, that will probably be the last of the sleep sacks, and by the time it’s cold enough to warrant use of a blanket again, I feel like L will be plenty old enough to be able use a blanket. All that said, L absolutely hates footed pajamas and her sleep sack. She cries and whines every night when I put them on her. Moments before, is her happy time where she flops around on our bed post-bath in just a diaper… It’s pretty darn cute. She loves not wearing clothes.

MP! You were writing at the same time I was. It’s taken me all afternoon between working to write this response. Good to hear from you! Glad to hear that Ev is doing the same sort of stuff that K and L are from a development standpoint. That is so adorable that he loves to sing and dance. You'll have to share a photo of his new 'do. Hope the TTC'ing front is going well.

 

[mayerling]

Just chiming in on the sleepsack issue. N has been using a sleepsack since we stopped swaddling. In the summer, he's in a 1.0 tog; now, he's in a 2.5 tog. I think it's cold at night at the moment, so he's in the winter sleepsack, in an all-in-one sleepsuit. When it gets even colder, I'll just add layers under his sleepsuit. I just switched him to 18-36 sleepsacks because he's outgrown the 6-18 ones. I have no intention of stopping to use the sleepsack because he moves around so much in his sleep that I'd spend all night putting the covers back on him.

 

[JGator]

Mayerling, that's great that you set up your Christmas tree for the first time. Do you have it blocked off so N can't get into it? I'm wondering how we're going to deal with that this year.

Jfo, thanks for the advice on the sleep sacks. I have been putting K in one every night - I tried one night with just footed PJs and she seemed to get up more,but who knows if that was the reason. I have a lightweight one from Aden Anais that I use when I put K in long sleeved PJs and a heavier cotton official Sleep Sack for when I put her in lighter weight PJs. Also, I give K the Hyland's teething tabs every night before bed. Not sure if they help or not, but I've been doing that for a while.

MP, that's cool that Ev is an aspiring muscian. Are you or your DH musically inclined? I'm hoping K likes music and dancing. My nephew started Kindergarten recently and said he didn't know how to dance when they asked them all to dance the first day. I'm hoping we don't have that problem with K!

AFU, we noticed two small spots on K's thigh today - they are a little raised and slightly red. Do you think this could be a delayed reaction from her vaccines 2 weeks ago? She definitely did not have them yesterday and she was not outside yesterday or today so I don't think it's a bug bite. K refuses to say Mommy - she will say Daddy, Bird, Cheese (more like ssshhh), and her favorite Baby when we ask her to repeat after us. I think she won't say it just to bug me! She also likes giving her toys "big kisses" when we ask her to. K is still sleeping horribly, but I did put her to bed an hour early last night, and she woke up at her usual time so maybe that will help going forward to get her to be more well-rested.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, those sort of look like bug bites to me, but I have no idea. That's so funny because Ev also refuses to say mama most of the time too. I can sometimes get him to say daddy. He used to repeat whatever sound I told him to, but now he has caught on and has to be Mr. Independent and not say something just because we tell him too. I have this sleep sack at home http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W8PYXS/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1,, but I keep forgetting to try it out. We generally find that he is most comfortable in about 69-71 degrees in footed pajamas, but I do think as winter sets in, we will want to be able to bundle him up a bit more. DH has always been concerned about oveheating him because apparently that's not a good thing either....

 

[jfo]

JGator, how is K's thigh today? Hopefully they were just bug bites and they are going away. Ha, I laugh at how K and Ev both refuse to say Mommy/Mama. L does the same thing. She apparently will only say it to her daddy when I'm not around. That is too cute about K giving her toys big kisses!

MP, I got a couple of those kinds of sleep sacks for L too, but haven't used them yet. Maybe I got a size too big, but they just seem like they are too big for her.

L threw up in the middle of the night two nights ago. I didn't realize it until I went to get her in the morning and I felt terrible not realizing it because she didn't cry about it. It was all in her hair and she had slept in it. I thought it might have been related to her cough from her cold, so I gave her milk yesterday morning, which was a big mistake because she threw that all up over her and her daddy a few minutes after she had drank about 6 oz. She wasn't running a fever, but obviously didn't feel well. She also had one bright red, hot cheek yesterday. So she mainly had pedialyte yesterday and by dinner time was able to eat some banana and applesauce. She slept fine last night and seems to be totally ok today and has been eating well and her red cheek went away too. So who knows what that was all about, but I hope it's all over with and we can be relatively illness free by the time we need to do our roadtrip for Thanksgiving!

 

[FrekeChild]

I seem to have a two year old. When the heck did that happen?

 

[jfo]

Freke, happy birthday to A! She looks adorable in her pigtails! Did you all have a big party or did you keep it more intimate?

So I spoke too soon about L feeling better. She threw up again Friday afternoon a couple times and then Saturday 3 times. No fever during all that time. Fortunately, she was able to keep some food down as well as pedialyte. What sucked is that DH had to head out of town on Thursday afternoon for a funeral (of which we were going to go too and couldn't) and then he got hit with the stomach bug on Saturday and was violently ill for about 12 hours before heading back home yesterday. I had a much milder case that hit me Saturday night and I already was better by Sunday morning. UGH. Stomach bugs suck!! I guess it's that time of the year. L didn't throw up yesterday, but still isn't herself yet, but is back to daycare today. Hopefully she can continue to recover (as well as poor DH) and we are good to go to head out of town to visit family on Thursday.

How is everyone else doing? For those of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving this week!

 

[amc80]

Hi all

We are back from our trip. Vacations are sure different when you have a baby. The upside was I had a lot of down time while B napped. He was good about snoozing in the stroller but we always made sure he had a real nap before dinner. A major downside was he refused to sleep in the crib in our room. He could see us since the cabins are small, and there was no way he was sleeping there, alone, while we were 3 feet away from him in the bed. So he slept between us the entire trip. Didn't make for much romance but he slept really well. He was his usual picky self with food. He would eat bananas, french fries, and fruit loops. I know, I know. We had squeezy baby food and other healthy-ish foods for him. But as far as ship foods, that was it. I felt like mother of the year ordering him french fries every dinner, but the goal was to have him happy and quiet in the dining room. He is now on a crap-diet detox, whether he knows it or not.

The drive to the port was LONG. B hadn't pooped since the previous morning (he's a 2-3x a day pooper) so he was not happy. We would smell something, pull over, get him out of the carseat, check, and nothing. Repeat x10. Finally he went and was much happier. The trip back was better, he slept most of the way. He loved Disneyland. We went on some of the more mellow rides and he had a blast. I found some dried apples that he loved at D-Land. Then, of course, we went to Target and I bought some and he wouldn't touch them. I can't wait for the picky stage to get better.

Everyone on the ship knew him by the end of the trip. He was high-fiving everyone and yelling "hiiiii" to every person he saw. We had a great time but I wish we could have taken another cruise without the toddler Some day, right?

He has his 15m appointment tomorrow and I'm going to talk to his doctor about suggestions on getting him to try more foods. I'm guessing the answer will be "he'll grow out of it" but I'll take any words of wisdom I can get.

 

[JGator]

AMC, welcome back. Did you have to sleep early every night to get B to sleep in the cabin? Has he adjusted to being at home and sleeping in his crib? I think we are staying in the same room with K at my in-laws, and we might have a similar experience with K seeing us and not wanting to sleep in whatever my in-laws have set up! Good luck with the pedi appt and getting B to eat a varied diet.

Jfo, sorry to hear L has been so sick and that you and DH also were sick. I hope you are back to health in time for your road trip. K still has the bug bite/marks on her thighs, but they have not gotten any worse. I asked her doctor and she said if they get scabby or white pus than we should bring her in. K still won't say mama - the nanny is always trying to get her to say it, but she refuses or says DaDa instead. K says shhh now for cheese and sssss for snake.

Freke, A is beautiful. I love the pig tails! I can't wait till K has enough hair for pig tails. Happy 2nd birthday to A!

MP, thanks for the link. We still have the traditional sleep sack without the foot cutouts. I will have to look into those.

Mayer, did you take your trip to the West Coast yet? Good luck to you!.

AFU, we are leaving tomorow night for Europe. We have a really late flight (10pm) so we're hoping to get to the airport early enough that K falls asleep before we board the plane near her regular bed time. I'm planning to dress her in a fleece zip up footed sleeper. We do not have her own seat this time, but we do have business class because we used our frequent flyer miles (the other people in business class are going to hate us!!) so hopefully we'll also get the bassinett/bulk head row and it will be big enough/comfortable enough for K to sleep in. We bought a cheap umbrella stroller as we have a connection in London and we will not be able to get our gate checked stroller until we get to our final destination. K has been a little better at sleeping lately so I'm worried about completely throwing that out the window with the 6 hour time change. We tested Benadryl on K to see if it made her hyper and it doesn't, but her naps with it were only 30 mins so I don't think it makes her sleepy either! So much for that idea from the pediatrician! My DH took care of K at 6am today, and there was a hysterical scream fest - he was with her for 1.5 hours before turning her over to me. She was calm by then though. It killed me to not go in to help, but she really needs to get over having me as the only care taker in the middle of the night! My MIL is having a big birthday while we are there so I ordered some diamond hoops from ID Jewelry which hopefully are arriving today - if my MIL doesn't like them, I plan to keep them for myself! Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[amc80]

AMC, welcome back. Did you have to sleep early every night to get B to sleep in the cabin? Has he adjusted to being at home and sleeping in his crib? I think we are staying in the same room with K at my in-laws, and we might have a similar experience with K seeing us and not wanting to sleep in whatever my in-laws have set up! Good luck with the pedi appt and getting B to eat a varied diet.

He stayed up later than normal, so he would go to sleep around 9...but yes, we'd have to be in the cabin at that point. Which meant I got to sleep early which was awesome. Or I'd read which was nice as well. I was concerned that he wouldn't want to go back to his crib, but he has been just fine. Actually he's been sleeping all night so it's been really nice. The first night back he seemed happy to be there- he sort of sat up and looked around and was laughing and talking to himself. Good luck on your trip!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Jfo, I opened up the sleep sack yesterday, and I agree, it is HUGE! I don't think Ev is tall enough for it yet, or maybe it is supposed to be all bunched up. Oh well!

Freke, happy belated birthday to A! She's a cutie!

JGator, good luck with your travels! I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible for you! Glad to hear that you are having your DH participate in the night-time duties. I think our little ones are getting old enough to manipulate us a bit, so it is good for K to learn that beggers can't be choosers

AFU, nothing too new or exciting. Ev has been a great sleeper for the past week, so I'm thinking his sleep disturbances before that must have something to do with his cold and/or teething. Hoping he continues his good streak over the holiday weekend because I could definitely use some catching up on sleep. Anyway, just wanted to wish you and your little ones a happy Thanksgiving!

 

[amc80]

B's 15m appointment went well. I asked the doctor about the food pickiness and he sort of laughed and reminded us that B is above the 99th %ile for everything. He did recommend a multivitamin. Any suggestions on a good one for a kid his age?

 

[lliang_chi]

Posting Ethan's passport pic for fun. Sorry it's a little blurry, you get the drift.

AFU: not much new today. Ethan's been making a habit of not really eating dinner (a handful of bites then says "All doh (done)!") which makes him hungry in the morning and doesn't sleep in past 6AM. Thanksgiving I stuffed my monkey full of turkey, rolls, whatever else I could get in him. Snoozed till 6:30. Oh yeah!

Hoping everyone else had a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[mayerling]

JGator, how was the trip? We're not going to the West Coast for another month. We fly out New Year's Eve and get in on New Year's Day. I'm still trying to mentally prepare myself. How did you deal with all the meals? Did you bring a lot of bottles with you?

MP, how come E's sleep sack is too big. Is he wearing the 6-18-month ones?

AMC, glad the cruise went well. I know what you mean about how a cruise with you and DH might be more enjoyable.

LC, love E's passport pic!

JFO, how's your little one doing? I hope everything's okay now.

Freke, happy birthday to A!

AFU, things are going well. Trying to fill our days with toddler activities as N is much better behaved when he's entertained. I'm a bit apprehensive as I intend to go back to work (part-time) in the new year and I don't know how I can be away from him.
Also, I really need to teach him how to drink from a straw. He just doesn't seem to get it. Any suggestions? I tried blocking one end and dripping liquids into his mouth but it didn't work.

 

[amc80]

Also, I really need to teach him how to drink from a straw. He just doesn't seem to get it. Any suggestions? I tried blocking one end and dripping liquids into his mouth but it didn't work.

B just sort of figured it out, so I'm no help. We were doing the dropper method and then just tried giving him a straw and it worked.

So, B has been biting (mainly me) and pulling my hair. When he bites, he acts like he is snuggling and them bam. Same with the hair pulling, he will be hugging my neck and then grab onto my hair and pull HARD. I'm usually scrambling to release his grib while he's laughing. Any suggestions on how to deal with this? The weekly developmental email I got today mentioned biting, but was more geared towards him biting other kids, which he doesn't do. Also, he learned a new word this weekend- NO. And he says it all the time. The terrible twos are misnamed, they start much earlier than that.

A picture from the cruise-

 

[JGator]

AMC, sorry to hear B has learned the word No. I dread that day with K. He is so dapper in his captain suit.

Mayer, the trip over wasn't too bad. We did bring a lot of baby food and formula with us on the plane even though she really didn't eat or drink much. In London, they took 1 of the baby foods, one bottle of formula, and our baby Benadryl. Apparently, we had too much for their rules even though we were fine in the US. Also, I had to taste the water out of my daughter's sippy cup and open a bottle of sealed formula and taste that and my DH had to taste a container of baby food. So, London kind of sucked as far as the security goes! She slept on the first flight and was awake on the 2nd shorter flight. So far, she has done pretty well with the time change - she is staying up later than usual and sleeping in later too.

LC,sorry about Ethan's food strike. K was on one today, and it was not fun particularly with my MIL's input/advice/opinions on the subject. Ie, she will eat when she's hungry, don't give her the food she wants, don't let her throw food on the floor, etc. She needs discipline! Uggh...1 week to go.

AFU, we survived the flights over and K has done pretty well adapting to the time difference. Today she was cranky and last night she was up a lot due to teething, I think. My MIL is starting to get on my nerves with her opinions on my lack of discipline with K compared to how she would do things and how her other grandchild was raised. Today was not a good day in that department.