PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[lliang_chi]

Jgator, holy smokes. Is there anyway your DH can not-so-gently tell his mother to bite her tongue? At least you can keep repeating to yourself, "Just one more week, just one more week." Hooray that K's doing so well with the time change Yay for sleeping in!

Freke, for got say, Happy 2nd Birthday to your beautiful A! She still looks like a little elf. I love her pig tails.

AMC, look at B in his little suit! Adorable!!! Ah, the "NO" phase. Ethan went through that too. In fact one of our friend's son had to teach him "Yeah!" Now he's answering things appropriately when he wants something or doesn't want something. ALthough he still loves bossing/yelling at the dog, "NOOO!!!! [Kee-thas], no!" Quizas still has no idea he's talking to her. LOL. Not sure what to tell you about biting and hair pulling. Ethan doesn't really bite so much, but he does pull my hair. I grab his hand (not gently) and tell him in a firm voice, "NO!" His pedi suggested age 3 for timeouts, but I'm starting to read 123 Magic for some advice.

AFU: Ethan spiked a fever yesterday and J stayed home with him today. He got his appetite back and is blissfully sleeping till past 6AM (knock on wood). Today he woke up just before 6, but I think his fever didn't help matters. I'll try to give him some ibuprofen again before I go to bed to get him to stay sleeping. Fingers crossed.

 

[FrekeChild]

Hey all!

I've been reading along, but I know I'm going to miss people, for that I apologize!


jfo - we had a few people over. Only 4 kids total, but the house felt full. I'm hoping you guys managed to not get sicker before the holidays.

AMC - it's crazy how much down time you have when you travel with a little one. Normally, you can put them in their beds and then go do other stuff while they nap, but I've never felt safe doing that while traveling. I hear you on the not eating a large variety of stuff. We offer everything that we eat to A, sometimes she eats it, sometimes she doesn't.

That little suit is ridiculously cute. Little boys in formal wear...doesn't get much better than that!

Biting and no. Unfortunately I have no advice on the biting, because A hasn't even shown signs of being interested in it. Do other little kids he is around do it? As for the "NO!" I end up talking to her the way I would if she were an adult. Explaining the reason behind whatever it is that I'm trying to get her to do or whatever. She actually understands a lot of what I'm saying, and stuff that she doesn't understand, perhaps she is developing some context! I try to stay calm and not lose my patience, but sometimes it's harder than others. Lol, literally, the day after her birthday, A started asking me "Why?" for EVERYTHING. My husband just laughed as I'm trying to explain why about some concept that really has no "why" answer.

JGator - thank you! Her hair is growing in in a ridiculous pattern - the hair on her crown is really long, and everywhere else is much shorter, so most of the pigtail material is from the thick of it! It looks shorter than it really is because it's so curly most of the time.

I'm so territorial with my kid. She and I have such a routine though, that she knows what she's allowed to do in my house and what she's not allowed to do. I'm not looking forward to going back to New Mexico in a couple weeks and having her routine thrown off and being in a whole new environment. I hope things with your MIL get better. Is there anything your husband can say to her?

MP - Thank you! I'm hoping E's sleeping has stayed consistent.

LC - I hate the "All done!" business. They never are. I was THRILLED when A started to use "more" in her vocabulary to let me know that she was still hungry or whatever. I keep wondering if we keep A up too late. It doesn't matter yet, but eventually I have to go back to work, and not waking up until 9am is not great for that!

Fingers are crossed that he feels better and sleeps for you. I hate when they get sick.

Mayerling - I know exactly what you mean about going back to work. As for straw suggestions, I'd just give him a straw sippy cup (we use disposable ones - they are good for a ton of washes, but I don't feel that bad throwing them away) full of water, and let him try to figure it out and make whatever mess he wants to. He knows how to suck already, so he'll figure it out eventually. One day A just grabbed it and went to town. It's taken a few months, but she's even managed to figure out that tipping it backward does not help get more out!!


AFU: Thanks to everyone for birthday wishes for A! She had learned how to say "cupcake" a few weeks before her birthday, and when she saw the two boxes of cupcakes sitting on top of our range it was "CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" with both arms outstretched and totally running for them. Hahahahah!!!!!

A got totally spoiled for her birthday, but she's blissfully unaware of how many toys, books, and clothes she has accumulated in the past week or so. I am not. We need to get rid of some of this stuff! And we have to do it all over again in three weeks! GAH!

She had her two year checkup, everything went fine, she's 34%ile for weight and 82%ile for height, which means we have a tall skinny butt on our hands for the moment. She has actually lost a bit of weight (about 2 pounds, from 27 to 25) since she got really sick a couple months ago, but she's also learned how to RUN since that time, so I'm chalking it up to running, climbing, crawling and general active play.

She.never.stops.talking. I swear, the instant she wakes up, she starts talking to herself. She has developed this huge vocabulary (I stopped trying to keep track of it) and it's got multiple new words added to it daily. Not to mention all of the sentences and questions she has and keeps developing. Her current favorite game is to hide her teddy bear from our sight (his name is "Puppy") and say, "Where did Puppy go?" and then pop him out and exclaim "There he is!" My husband is trying to teach her how to play hide and seek, but her problem is that she just keeps talking, even if she's actually trying to hide. lol. She's a hoot. The other day I walked in on her playing with these two dragons (stuffed Maleficents, from the animated Sleeping Beauty actually) with one much smaller than the other, and she was obviously having them fight each other, complete with growling noises.

I.bleeping.love.this.age. Between pure entertainment value and the ability to actually tell me when she needs something and what she wants, it's just so amazing.

 

[mayerling]

Freke, how did you go about teaching A what she's allowed to do in the house and what she isn't?

 

[jfo]

amc, glad that you had a good overall trip. Hopefully since you've been back, he's had no problem going back to sleeping in his own crib. He looks like such a little man in his formalwear! So cute!! Glad that B is continuing to grow well and hopefully he will just outgrow his food pickiness. I have not given L a multivitamin, but a quick search on amazon turned up this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/field-keywords=Best%20Organic%20Multivitamins%20For%20Toddlers?ie=UTF8&tag=top5best-20 Hopefully there is something there that is appealing. Oy, hopefully B will get over the "no" and biting phase quickly. Has he started at the new in-home daycare yet?

MP, glad to hear that Ev has been sleeping well and hopefully you all had a great Thanksgiving!

LC, what an adorable passport photo of E. How old was he when he got it? I hope he is feeling better today!

Mayerling, I can imagine your apprehension about returning to work in the new year. What will your part-time schedule be? I can tell you that it's never easy, but it will get easier over time and hopefully you will have a good childcare setup.

JGator, glad that the trip over was not too bad and that K has adapted quite well. That's annoying that you had to open a bottle of sealed formula and open baby food at security. What a potential waste! I hope that things get better with your MIL and her opinions and your DH steps up and helps manage that situation.

Freke, A sounds like soooo much fun right now! I love hearing about the "older" toddlers and how their personalities continue to evolve.

AFU, we overall had a good trip out of town for Thanksgiving. L took a 2 hour nap on both legs of the drive, which helped a lot. She was overwhelmed at being at all the new houses and seeing so many relatives who wanted to hold her, play with her, etc., so she was quite clingy to me and DH. Over time she would get used to each situation though and it helped to play with her cousins. She also is back to being 100% over the stomach bug and just has some leftover cough from her cold. Unfortunately, her 17 month old cousin caught the stomach bug and started throwing up the day after Thanksgiving. I sure hope it wasn't from us Otherwise, developmentally, she seems to be ok with trying to walk again although it takes a LOT of encouragement. She is just so ridiculously cautious. She hates the idea of falling on her butt, which just cracks me up, but physically, she CAN walk and has taken 10-12 steps unassisted. She just has to be in the mood. And speaking of mood, L seems to be all over the place emotionally recently. Normally, she is a happy kiddo, but recently, she still has been super clingy, especially with me, and will seem happy one second and then will be crying about who knows what the next second. I've even had trouble dropping her off at daycare in the morning, where she will just cling to my legs and cry when normally when I put her down, she will just start playing. Not sure what I can attribute it to, but I hope my overall happy kid comes back soon! We have a followup ENT dr's appointment today and a hearing test. HOpefully all will go well with that.

 

[lliang_chi]

Jfo, Ethan was 5 months in his passport photo. He wasn't quite sitting yet. It's so funny he's got a baby baby photo on his passport even though he's so not a baby anymore. Yay, glad L slept most of the way on the drive there and back for Thanksgiving. I love it when that happens. We end up still having to stop during road trips because my DH's bladder is tiny. Hoping she gets tired of crawling and starts walking soon. I think Ethan's mind was blown when he figured out that with walking he can get somewhere AND carry things in his hands. After that he was walking all over.

Freke, good luck finding somewhere to get rid of A's old toys. I find that kids and grandparents have no idea how inundated your house will get with toys. LOL. So cute about the cupcakes. And I agree, I love the sweet toddler but able to talk phase. Ethan's not quite super verbal, but he's able to articulate what he wants and what he doesn't want. I just keep asking him questions. Today he wanted cereal for breakfast.

AFU: Ethan's potty training is going pretty well. Yesterday he actually asked to pee in the potty. "Pee pee potty. Mama, pee pee potty." He likes getting stickers and putting the stickers on his chart himself. Still no poop in the potty, but I'll take what I can get. He's back to eating normally again, but spiked a fever from Sunday = yesterday. So he was out of day care for a whole week. He handled drop off just fine though.

 

[mayerling]

Jfo, glad the trip went well!

JGator, I'm surprised at London security. I've flown 5 or 6 times from Heathrow with N and never had any problems. They would ask to see the formula or baby food but wouldn't confiscate any. I wonder if it's because US brands are different and they're not familiar with them?

LC, E is already potty-training? Wow! I hope N catches on quick as well.

AFU, N has finally mastered the straw. I looked for advice online and found a suggestion of using a drink-box and squeezing it so that liquid gets into the straw and it took him a total of 30 seconds to figure out how to suck it out on his own!

 

[monarch64]

Aw, cute kiddos abound in this thread! AMC, your boy in the captain's outfit is so handsome! I can't get over how gorgeous he is.

Alex is 18 months old now and just the sweetest thing. Loves to brush her teeth. She sits on my vanity stool and brushes while I fix her hair or while I blow it dry at night. Then we have to get everything out of the drawers in the vanity and then put everything away and say "night night" to all of it. Their little rituals are so cute.

Today, Alex met Mr. Bear. Some of you may remember him from the t.v. show Full House. His name is actually Humphrey Beargart...I've had him since I was little. She definitely enjoyed his hat. We took her down to visit my parents over the weekend and she had a nice time playing there.

 

[amc80]

OMG Mr. Bear!! Adorable!

 

[monarch64]

Isn't that hilarious?! So thankful my mom kept all my stuff in storage for all these years, now I get to share it with my girl.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Every day I mean to post on this thread, then the day gets away from me and I fall further behind!

Monnie--the pics of A with Mr. Bear are so adorable. I totally remember Mr. Bear! I'm so jealous that A loves to brush her teeth, K tolerates my brushing her teeth, but that's as optimistic as it gets.

Mayerling--woohoo for N mastering the straw!! Now he's probably going to want to drink anything he sees with a straw, haha. And I definitely understand how hard it is to think of going back to work. For me, the anticipation was worse than actually going back.

LC--oh my gosh, E is doing so well with the potty training! Did you make the potty training chart yourself? K still isn't talking, so she's not ready for a chart and won't communicate when she potties, but we have a potty and that's about the extent that our training has gone. I really need to do some more reading, I just haven't had any time. And I'm so sorry to hear about E's fever--I know how stressful that is during the week when you're trying to decide who should stay home. K had a stomach bug last week, but we were off for T-giving, anyway.

jfo--o glad the trip went well! L sounds very much like K: cautious, a bit shy and clingy. K is especially clingy with me when around large groups or when meeting people for the first time. And it does come and go in phases. Some days at daycare she's content to run off and play, whereas other days, she just wants me to hold her. Anyway, I really do think it's just part of their personality. I try to do a lot of "social" things with her so she's used to being around strangers, but I really don't think she's going to be an outgoing kid.

Freke--oh my gosh, A is 2!! She sounds like such a cutie pie! I think it's hilarious that she can't play hide and seek because she talks the entire time. How cute is that??

JGator--glad the trip went well and can totally relate to the in-law frustration. I have to bite my tongue quite a bit and it's frustrating because I wish our time with them could be more relaxed. Hope things get better for you!

amc--wow, biting and learning "no" in the same week? Sounds like fun I'm no help with the biting, but I use the 1-2-3 method (from 1-2-3 Magic) with K and when she does something really bad I say "that's 3" and put her in time out. Not an actual timeout, I just put her in another room away from me and walk away. She doesn't have to stay in the room (I think she's too young for that), but it's effective for her because she knows that the behavior leads to her not getting any attention. Anyway, I'm a big believer that different things work for different kids, so hopefully you'll figure out what works for B.

MP--so glad that Ev is letting you get some sleep! I hope that trend has continued (I know you've been travelling this week, so hopefully it's continued for your DH's sake!)

AFU, nothing too exciting:
1. K's still not really talking. No news there.
2. K had a stomach bug last week and woke up vomiting. Poor thing. What kills me is that she won't cry. I saw her stirring around 11pm on the monitor and when she wouldn't go back to sleep, I finally went in to see what was going on and found vomit everywhere. Poor thing. She was up most of the night and didn't want to do much but snuggle the next day. The good news is that it only lasted 24 hours and she's bounced back.
3. Goal is to get her to move to her big-girl room this weekend. I've been moving things from her nursery to the room this week and so far she's fine with it. Last night we did story time in the new room (I set up a reading corner) and she loved it, so I'm hoping this transition goes smoothly. The girl likes routine, so transitions can be tough.

Attaching a pic--she looks like such a little kid these days!

 

[monarch64]

NEL, oh wow, K is such a doll. She looks like a little ballet dancer in her pretty black outfit. Sorry to hear she was sick; we haven't had to deal with any GI bugs yet but I would feel terrible if she was feeling so yucky. Alex came to a point where she wasn't cool with me brushing her teeth anymore, so I started letting her practice on her own. She watched me brush mine and say "ahh" and then imitated me. She doesn't do a great job of course, so I go over her entire mouth at the end which she's not entirely happy about but tolerates. Do you think letting K try on her own would help? The training toothpaste was a big hit for A... Good luck moving K into her big girl room!

Never thought I'd say this but I'm excited for our first big snow that's supposed to come through tomorrow. We got A a snowsuit for Chanukah and she looks so cute in it. I think she might actually be interested in playing in the snow this year, so it should be fun. I need to get out all our cold weather gear today so we can get out there with her. Oh, and shovel the walks and driveway.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Have fun in the snow, Monnie! So glad A has a snowsuit, I still need to get one for K. I bet A has a great time in the snow this year! And K definitely prefers to brush her own teeth. She mostly just chews on the bristles, though. So I'll brush her teeth first and sing her a song she likes, then when we're done I let her have the toothbrush. For now, that's how we get through it without her getting upset.

 

[FrekeChild]

I'm falling asleep on the couch, but I wanted to share some of today's cuteness with someone who might appreciate it (besides my husband).

We put the Christmas tree up last night after she went to bed, so this morning, we turned the lights on and then got her from her crib, and she was so excited when she saw it, "Wow Mommy! It's a tree!"

Lately she has taken to telling me "bed" when she is ready to take her nap. But today she busts out with "Mommy, lets go to bed." She has never pieced together that particular sentence before, so I was pretty pumped about it.

And then we had to go stop by the grocery store this evening to buy stuff for tomorrow's dinner, and we told her it was time to go, and she marched over to the door to the garage and says, "Lets go in the car, Mommy!"

She spent yesterday at daycare, and came home saying "Ummhmm." to everything instead of the "Yeah" and "Yes" answers we were getting before. Me: "Do you want some more milk?" A: "Ummhmm. More cups milk, please."

Where did all of this stuff come from?!?!?!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Freke, I love hearing about the language development. That's the thing I'm really looking forward to with Ev!

NEL, K is so adorable, and you are right, she does look like such a big girl these days. I can't believe how fast that happened! Hope you are doing well. I can't believe how close you are getting to having your second baby!

Monarch, I remember that bear now that you mention it. Too funny. A is getting so big, and look at her long hair! So cute.

JGator, I hope your trip is going well. Glad you survived the trip there. A little girl who was probably getting close to the age limit for being allowed to be a lap baby was sitting next to me on a 4 hour plane ride this week. She was not happy about it, and was pretty restless. I got kicked quite a bit and she was always trying to take my stuff. Pre-baby, I'm pretty sure I would have been super annoyed, but now I just felt sorry for the mom and was glad it wasn't me! It made me not want to take Ev on a plane for a really long time! I hope your MIL is not getting to you. I know it's hard, but try not to take it personally. You are K's mommy, and your rules apply!

Jfo, Ev goes through phases like that too with being clingy or more tempermental. I think it's good that L is cautious. I wish Ev was! He seems to have no fear. Just this morning, I brought him into the bed for a few minutes because he woke up early, and he nearly climbed right off the edge and didn't think anything of it. He will just let go of things when he is standing and try to walk and fall flat on his face. It's crazy!

Mayerling, the footed sleep sack thing I got was for 22-28 pounds. I would guess Ev is right about 22 pounds at this point (which is about average or a little below average for 13-14 months). But the thing is so tall, and he's not a short kid, so I have no idea why the make them so long. Glad your little guy figured out the straw. Ev picked it up on his own pretty much, but he still forgets sometimes and tips his head back with the straw

LC, that's great E is potty training already. What a good boy! Love the baby passport photo. When they get them as a baby, they are good for 5 years right? That's so weird!

amc, B is cute as can be in his little suit. Sounds like a fun trip, but I can see why you might want an adult vacation next time. I keep trying to decide if I would feel comfortable with DH and I going somewhere alone this spring. I think if my family lived in town instead of DH's, I might be up for it, but I don't love the idea of leaving him with DH's family. That's just me being a bratty sister/daughter in law.

AFM, things are going well with Ev. He has slept through the night for like 2 weeks straight knock on wood. I know the streak won't last forever, but it has been so great (and I was relieved DH was able to sleep while I was gone this week). One cute thing - the other night while I was traveling I called home and DH put Ev on the phone. When I said "Hi Everett," he said "Hi" back very clearly. Normally, he just looks bewildered by the phone and doesn't respond appropriately. DH said he could tell he recognized my voice. I think he also called me "Kitty," but we can work on that

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, LOL yes, Ethan's passport is good for like 5 yrs, so he's going to have this bitty baby passport photo for 3 more years. LOL sounds like Ev is quite the daredevil. Did you teach him how to fall on his butt when he's standing? Basically just push him down on his butt so he knows the diaper will cushion his fall. Ah, so awesome that Ev responded correctly to you on the phone! And don't feel like you're being a brat with preferring your family to watch Ev over your DH's. You're mama, and you have your own mama instincts.

Freke, love hearing about A's socializing and communication skills. The "Ummhmmm" is HILARIOUS!

Monnie, hope you and A are enjoying the snow. No snow in Chicago, just ass cold weather. I'm glad A had a good time visiting your folks. How's your dad doing (I think I'm remembering you dad had some health issues a few months ago)?

NEL, Look at your K. She looks so grown up!!! Does she still have her beautiful blue-grey eyes? Yes, we made the sticker chart ourselves. Just half a poster board with a "HOORAY ETHAN" title on it, and subsections: Pee pee in the Potty (1 sticker), Poopy in the potty (2 stickers). Ethan likes pointing to the stickers he's collected so far. Sorry to hear about K's stomach bug, but happy to hear it was short lived. Good luck with the big-girl-room move. I really like your idea of how to handle it.

Mayer, Hooray that N figured out the straw! Good thinking on the juice box.

AFU: So I started to feel like a bad ass with the potty training and I'm brought back down to earth. Holy sleep regression, Batman. The past few weekends he's just been FIGHTING naps, finally goes down at like 2 or 3PM. Yesterday and day before Ethan's been getting up @ like 5:15AM. I have a "rule" not to get him before 6AM. So he screams the whole time from 5+AM to 6AM. Then the dog starts whining on top of Ethan's cries. J and I are like, "F.M.L!!!" This morning, woke up @ 2AM screamed for 1hr+, and (I'm assuming) eventually fell asleep (he was silent), then woke right back up @ 5AM. Screamed the whole 1hr til 6AM. Tonight putting him down for bed @ 7:30... Screamfest. Between cries he'd throw out any of the following: {Mama, Dada, Up, No bed, All done bed, Big bed}. Big bed is our bed.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Hi everyone. I have a couple of questions I wanted to bounce off all of you after pondering them this weekend.

Okay, first, those of you with boys.... Is it normal that Ev at nearly 14 months still frequently pees on me when I change his diaper? It hadn't been a problem for awhile, but recently, it's been happening again a few times a week. I'm wondering if the cold weather has something to do with it. I have also made the mistake of accidentally screaming when I realize it is happening and am scrambling to cover him up, which he finds hilarious and starts laughing. Seriously dude, time to start controlling that thing!

Second, we still haven't bought any shoes for Ev. Well, he's worn a pair of Chuck Taylors a couple of times that no longer fit. Until he is walking consistently, is it weird that he doesn't wear shoes when we go out?

One other thing I have to admit. He is still reguarly drinking his milk out of bottles. I know I need to work on it, but then, I just give in to save time and hassle. DH sees no need for him to get off the bottle, so he is no help. I guess that will be a New Years resolution once all of the holiday travel and craziness is over.

And my kid still can't walk more than 4-5 steps without falling over or into our arms.

Ah, I feel better getting all that off my chest

 

[amc80]

Hi everyone. I have a couple of questions I wanted to bounce off all of you after pondering them this weekend.

Okay, first, those of you with boys.... Is it normal that Ev at nearly 14 months still frequently pees on me when I change his diaper? It hadn't been a problem for awhile, but recently, it's been happening again a few times a week. I'm wondering if the cold weather has something to do with it. I have also made the mistake of accidentally screaming when I realize it is happening and am scrambling to cover him up, which he finds hilarious and starts laughing. Seriously dude, time to start controlling that thing!

Second, we still haven't bought any shoes for Ev. Well, he's worn a pair of Chuck Taylors a couple of times that no longer fit. Until he is walking consistently, is it weird that he doesn't wear shoes when we go out?

One other thing I have to admit. He is still reguarly drinking his milk out of bottles. I know I need to work on it, but then, I just give in to save time and hassle. DH sees no need for him to get off the bottle, so he is no help. I guess that will be a New Years resolution once all of the holiday travel and craziness is over.

And my kid still can't walk more than 4-5 steps without falling over or into our arms.

Ah, I feel better getting all that off my chest

Hey MP! I can't really help you with the peeing thing, since B doesn't do that. He does act like I'm murdering him when I change his diaper, though. Dude just doesn't want to sit still EVER. But he does pull my hair all the time, so maybe that will make you feel better.

As far as the shoes go- we started putting B in shoes once he was testing walking (holding furniture and such). He always wanted to be on the ground and I didn't want him to be down there with just socks on. If that's not an issue, though, I'd say it's fine to keep him in socks until he is wanting to walk/stand more often.

As far as the bottles go, I was pretty strict on getting rid of them when he turned one. We still did night/nap bottles but other than that he got sippies (or straw cups). B cares much more about the milk itself than the actual method of distribution. About 6 weeks ago (so when he was 14.5 months) I had enough with cleaning bottles and I sanitized and boxed them all up. I found that before boxing them up I would just grab one for convenience. I recommend the Nuk trainer sippy for the transition. It has a soft nipple that works pretty much the same as a bottle, so he shouldn't fight it too much.

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, I'm guessing most boys have grown out of the spraying when diaper changing thing by now, so I'm probably in the minority! And no need to worry, Ev enjoys pulling my hair as well. It seems to comfort him to always be able to have a lock of my hair to grab As far as sippy cups, I have a few smaller Nuk sippy cups that he will use to sip water. He will drink water out of a variety of cups with or without straws, but I think the drinking milk out of a sippy cup is just a comfort thing for him, especially when he is in need of a nap or its almost bedtime. It just makes our lives easier to hand him a bottle, but I know I need to stop.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Hi MP - I can answer two of your questions.

(1) I put S in Robeez fairly early on. I think I felt "funny" having her out and about when it's cold. I don't recall how early on, but I am certain I had some 12-18 month size early on. I also felt better about her having them on at daycare. I would have to look up when S started walking, but I am sure it was close to 15 months. I have the date written down somewhere, but probably never did the math in my head to figure out exactly how old that was, and that's why I can't remember. He will walk when he wants too.

(2) I was told that the bottle could be related to speech issues, so we were encouraged to transition completely to sippies, straws or just cups/glasses. It was difficult to stop, and probably even more difficult to stop milk at night/bedtime, but we did it. Now, she will ask for snacks at bedtime because she will do ANYTHING to avoid going to sleep!! Haha. She is so funny!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Freke, the explosion of language sounds like so much fun. And aren't kids and Christmas trees super cute? K was also enchanted by our tree.

MP, so cute that Ev said "hi" on the phone. That's one of the few things that K says, so I have a feeling he probably said it deliberately. And I'm so happy to hear that he's STTN these days! Wish I could help with the peeing--that can't be much fun. I wouldn't sweat the walking. It's still very early for him. And the bottles are tough. K's transition was pretty easy (except for the one morning bottle she wanted until she was 18 months old), but daycare sort of led the charge for me. Everybody else at daycare had a straw cup, so I think that made the transition easier for K.

LC, I'm so sorry to hear about the sleep regression, that has to be really tough. I remember K waking up early months ago and I would do the same thing. She'd sometimes wake up at 5:30 and I wouldn't go get her until 6:30 (mostly out of necessity--I had to get ready for work!) Now she sleeps until 7 every day, so maybe it does work after awhile. Your potty chart sounds great and I love that E is so excited about it! K's eyes are still blue/grey. They seem to be getting lighter near the pupil these days. Interested to see how DD#2 looks--they probably won't even look like sisters.

AFU, the transition to the big girl room went really well this weekend!! I had planned to transition more slowly, but she was so excited that I ended up doing it faster than anticipated. She did cry a little when I left the room at bedtime the first night, so I was on the verge of putting her back in her old room for one more night, but after about 2 minutes she laid down and fell asleep, so that was not bad at all. She slept until her normal 7am wakeup time and the next night there was no crying, so she seems used to it by now. So glad she's in there and seems to be settled--one less thing for me to worry about with the whole baby-on-the-way thing.

We've started taking K for little hikes. I've always been afraid to have her walk too much--like it might hurt her growing ligaments or something. But she LOVES it. Even though it's cold, she wants to be outside all the time, so I have to force her inside to warm up. I'm really enjoying the little adventures and love that she loves being outside.

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, Ethan doesn't consistently pee on me on the changing table, but he does every now and then. And yes, I think it has to do with the colder ambient temperature. I put Ethan on the potty when his penis was erect, and pee got EVERYWHERE. It was gross. I agree with AMC, we were giving Ethan bottles out of convenience, so once I packed them all up, we stopped. Every now and then Ethan will see a bottle and want to drink out of it (crazy boy!) But it's more for fun than anything else. You still have time with Ev. I know my pedi said he didn't care as long as he was off it by 18-20 months.
I didn't put shoes on Ethan until it was winter here. Shoes are much warmer than just socks, so for me it was a climate dictated thing.

LV, LOL Ethan stalls going to sleep too. He'll ask for one toy or another, one blankie or another. Little stinker.

NEL, hooray K is in her big girl room. Is she in a toddler/twin sized bed and everything? So cute she loves being outside. Is she having fun in the snow? Does she wear hats/gloves without much protest. Ethan can be very adamant about not wearing a hat. He also hates gloves too, but this weekend we finally broke through with gloves and he was able to take a walk with the dog. Have you guys narrowed down names for DD#2?

AFU: So Ethan's sleep stuff is (knock on wood) over for now. Thank goodness!!! He's back to sleeping like he was before, although I think he's starting to develop a preference to sleep in the "big bed" with us. DH calls it grown up snoozes, which we do every now and then. Hopefully we'll break him of the habit soon enough.

 

[monarch64]

LC--thanks for asking about my dad. He is doing ok. He is having chemo right now and is not feeling well at all. I can tell he wants to pick Alex up and hold her SO much but can't. Too many issues to type out, but she's not a tiny baby anymore and we can't risk him dropping her or damaging any of his own parts.

Glad E has seemingly resolved the sleep issue. We've gone through a couple of those and have attributed them to growth spurts or teething, usually. Not fun!

MP, Alex is 18 months now and still is having that night time bottle. We tried a boatload of sippy cups and got her transitioned to those in a pretty short amount of time, it just took a lot of different ones to find the one she liked and would actually drink from. At first I only put water in the bottle and only milk in the sippies, and now she gets only water in that bottle and either water OR milk in her sippies.

AFU, she did have fun playing in the snow for a few minutes on Friday. I couldn't keep her out very long because she wouldn't wear her mittens or her hood and it was only 25 degrees. Here are a couple pics:

 

[lliang_chi]

Monnie, I'm glad to hear your dad's doing OK. Aw, sad that he doesn't get to pick her up. But he can still get lots of hugs and play with her right? I'd think she's getting to an age that she wants to be more independent and doesn't want to be carried much anymore. Sending more prayers that he'll get better. If it makes you feel any better Ethan HATES wearing a hat and mittens also. I finally got him to wear mittens by explaining, if you want to walk Quizas (our dog), you have to put mittens on because it is very cold outside. Then I put them on and cram them under his jacket sleeves. Once he gets outside he stops fussing with them. For the hat, I just put a hooded sweater on under his jacket, and pull the hood up and keep the jacket zipped over it. This weekend I put on his fedora too, that covered the top of his head.

 

[jfo]

Wow, so much to catch up since last week and love the new photos!

LC, it is funny how the passport photos last 5 years and how different they will look by the time it needs to be renewed. But I love the little baby photos for first passports and I can't wait to see some stamps in L's passport! Congrats to you (and Ethan) for successful potty training so far! That's fantastic! Glad to hear that his sleep regression was short-lived. I do the same exact thing and don't go get her out of her crib until 6:00 at the absolute earliest if she wakes up early, but usually try to push it to closer to 6:30 if possible. Most mornings, she will wake up and just start babbling to herself and will be content to hang out in her crib for up to 45 minutes, but there are some mornings, she starts "demanding" to be picked up within 10 minutes with her increasingly loud and urgent "come get me" cry. I can't imagine how I will handle it when L can start to say more words and string them together in a way that make sense and I know that she wants me to come get her out of her crib. I might just cave.

mayerling, thanks! That's awesome about N mastering the straw. I might try the same suggestion. Right now, L is refusing to use the straw. She's sucked from one successfully on a couple past occasions, but never really took to it. I might need to refresh her memory.

Monarch, Alex is so beautiful! That's wonderful that your Mom saved Mr. Bear and she is now getting to enjoy him too. Her expressions hanging out in the snow are just priceless! I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for him wanting to hold his granddaughter, but it's true that he needs to wait until he is feeling better and has some strength back. Hugs to you.

NEL, K is just gorgeous! Love her dark curly hair. I agree that K sounds a lot like L--even about the stomach bug! L didn't cry either when she threw up in her crib and I found her in the morning with vomit all caked in her hair. I felt terrible. Glad it didn't last long for K. But yes, L is definitely much more comfortable in smaller group settings and with people she already knows. It makes me a bit worried about her transition to the toddler room in January at her daycare because despite the fact that she will be moving into a room with several of the same kids, the teachers will all be different and I think that will really throw her off. I hope it won't take too long to adapt. Anyway, so glad that the move to the big girl room went so smoothly! That's nice to be over with and one less thing for you to be thinking about. How are you feeling these days? Remind me when you are due?

Freke, love the new quotes from A! It's amazing how quickly she is learning things and stringing together sentences! I can't wait to get to that stage. What a riot!

MP, glad that Ev has been giving you all some good nights of sleep and was good for his daddy too while you were gone. Aww, that's so adorable how he said hi to you on the phone. Like Loves Vintage and LC, I first got L a couple pairs of Robeez when the weather started to get cooler and when she started cruising our furniture regularly because I just didn't like the idea of her little feet being cold on our hardwood floors, but i want her to be comfortable enough to learn to walk naturally. Then I eventually got her a couple pairs of stride rite shoes for outside because she wanted to explore our backyard and was willing to walk holding our hands. But honestly, if it didn't get cold, I think our daughter might still be barefoot even if we were out and about. Anytime we'd meet up with my parents for lunch or dinner out over the summer months, my mom would ask me where L's shoes were. I was like, huh? She's not walking, so why does she need shoes? I agree with amc and LC that once you pack up the bottles and put them out of the way, you won't be tempted to just grab one. I also think that you have time to make the transition if you think that Ev may have a difficult time not having a bottle for naps/bedtime, but he may just surprise you. I would target getting rid of the bottle for naps first, and then save bedtime for last. As for walking, one thing I have learned is that it takes time. 4-5 steps unassisted means he's walking! Now he just needs to keep practicing to get better I thought L was going to be full on walking a month ago, but we are just now starting to get closer to that.

JGator, I'm not sure if you are back yet, but if so, I hope your return journey home went smoothly! Hope the rest of the week with your in-laws were tolerable and K is doing well!

AFU, L is finally walking around, albeit sloowly and cautiously, and preferring to walk--either on her own or grabbing one of our hands and leading us to walk around with her--over crawling. She'll still crawl if she really wants to get somewhere fast, but she's starting to realize that the walking thing is pretty cool. She's really really into books these days and she's pointing at EVERYTHING and asking (in her way) what it is so we're doing a lot of naming of things these days. I am not sure if she's going through a growth spurt or just trying to make up lost time from her stomach bug, but she has been really hungry lately. It literally seems like she could eat all day! She can very clearly say hi and she says "hi-yo" for hello. She also says ball (ba), dog (da) consistently and can make sounds for a dog and an elephant (complete with raising her arm like an elephant trunk). She still won't call me mama, but at least now when someone asks her where mommy is, she will look at me or point to me, when she used to either look at the door or my husband!

 

[monarch64]

Monnie, I'm glad to hear your dad's doing OK. Aw, sad that he doesn't get to pick her up. But he can still get lots of hugs and play with her right? I'd think she's getting to an age that she wants to be more independent and doesn't want to be carried much anymore. Sending more prayers that he'll get better. If it makes you feel any better Ethan HATES wearing a hat and mittens also. I finally got him to wear mittens by explaining, if you want to walk Quizas (our dog), you have to put mittens on because it is very cold outside. Then I put them on and cram them under his jacket sleeves. Once he gets outside he stops fussing with them. For the hat, I just put a hooded sweater on under his jacket, and pull the hood up and keep the jacket zipped over it. This weekend I put on his fedora too, that covered the top of his head.

Thanks LC! I'll try to do more explaining to her about the cold weather gear. She actually WILL wear a hat that's fitted. It took a couple tries but I showed her in the mirror and then she left it alone. The hood on that snowsuit I believe was really obstructing her view. I had 2 neighbor kids in my care because school was cancelled and in all the snow madness I neglected to grab a hat for her. They had so much fun but it was a lot of action. I had the dryer running all day to keep their stuff dry because one couldn't find her snowpants and the other wouldn't keep his jacket zipped so his shirt was soaked every time he came in. I made them homemade, stove-top hot chocolate and was informed that they did not care for any, thanks. (They were nowhere near that polite.) Stinkers.

ETA: thanks JFO! So great to hear your L is walking now. Very soon she'll be totally confident, then look out! I have to tell you, Alex still doesn't say "mama" or "mommy." She CAN say it, she just doesn't feel the need to. She will pat my chest sometimes and say "ma ma ma mama ma" so I know she is putting it together in her mind. She can call me or not call me whatever she likes when she's ready. She likes to run and jump into my arms now and lay her head on my shoulder for cuddles. That's just as good as hearing "mama" for me.

 

[monkeyprincess]

So, after I wrote yesterday, Ev decided to show off last night and was able to walk 10-12 steps several times between DH and I. He is finally starting to learn to balance himself between steps. It seems like it is starting to sink in for him. But I'm guessing it will be awhile before he prefers walking to crawling. He's just gotten so efficient with his crawling. Also, I ordered him a couple of larger sippy cups with the softer spouts, and I guess we'll use those instead of bottles for awhile to see if that works. The problem is that he really prefers his milk to be slightly warmed to at least room temperature. That's easy with water, but we have to use our warmer for the milk. I guess that will be the next step! Also, as far as shoes, our daycare doesn't allow anybody, even babies, to wear shoes in the baby room and younger toddler room, so that is also part of the reason I haven't bothered. We never have him wear anything but bare feet or socks in the house becauser it is supposed to be better for learning to walk and he doesn't mind our wood floors, and we never put him down to walk in public places since he can't walk yet. Sounds like I should think about getting him a few types of soft-soled shoes soon though.

Thanks for all the suggestions yesterday everyone!

 

[amc80]

Also, as far as shoes, our daycare doesn't allow anybody, even babies, to wear shoes in the baby room and younger toddler room, so that is also part of the reason I haven't bothered.

Interesting. The baby room at B's old day care didn't allow any shoes in the baby room except for on the almost walkers. In the toddler room, though, it was required that they wear shoes.

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, yeah, it is because they are trying to keep the floor as hygenic as possible. Most of the kids in the younger toddler room walk, but they also crawl around quite a bit. If the toddlers go outside in the warmer months, they wear shoes obviously. I think they all wear shoes once they move to the regular toddler room.

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, so Ev's daycare has a infant room, a young toddler and a regular toddler? What ages/milestones do they need to hit to go to the next room? In Ethan's daycare there's just infant and toddlers. To move up to toddlers, babies need to be walking, drinking out of a sippy cup @ school, eating table food, and taking only 1 nap a day. They usually transition @ 15 months. They move from toddlers to twos right after their 2nd birthday.

Monnie, Good luck explaining things to A. I was surprised it kinda worked for Ethan, but we haven't gone outside again after this weekend. It's been too cold (below 20F) here. Wow, kinda crappy that the neighborhood kids were such stinkers. I'm sure their parents *really* appreciated you watching them during the day though. How old were the kids?

JFO LOL that L will bust out the "COME GET ME RIGHT NOW" cry. Ethan *always* whips that one out. I can count on 1 hand the times he's been content to hang out in his crib talking to himself. He usually wakes up, crawls over to the door side of the crib, pulls himself and wails. And it's heart breaking when they're crying and they bust out the "Mama.. Dada..." But I steel myself against it. Hooray for walking! L will be a pro in no time. And go L for the good appetite too Hopefully it keeps up.

AFU: Does anyone have any advice on how to get kids to poop on the potty? Ethan's getting really well with peeing on the potty (you should see his sticker chart), but we still haven't gotten a poop yet.

 

[Kunzite]

LC, what kind of potty are you using? The only thing I can suggest is making sure that his feet are supported, either by using one of the little ones on the floor or making sure that you have a stool in front of the full size one. It's hard for kids to go poop without that support. Otherwise I have no advice! We're still not potty training over here