PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[amc80]

B is currently sound asleep in his toddler bed. He didn't even seem to notice that it wasn't his crib.

 

[FrekeChild]

B is currently sound asleep in his toddler bed. He didn't even seem to notice that it wasn't his crib.

I'm so jealous!

 

[amc80]

Well, he slept all night! We did have to readjust him at one point when he was hanging out of the bed. This was much easier than I expected.

 

[JGator]

AMC, awesome news and adorable picture!!! He is sooo tall! How tall is he now?

LC, that's great that Ethan is your new sous chef! I think the salad spinner is an excellent idea that I will borrow from you!

AFU, K has slept till 8am two days in a row - she was getting up at 6am on vacation. She also has had hysterical crying fits when the nanny left the last 2 days and acted strangely shy with the nanny in the AM. I wonder what is going on in her head. I think maybe she's afraid the nanny isn't coming back because were were on vacation for a week without her.

 

[amc80]

AMC, awesome news and adorable picture!!! He is sooo tall! How tall is he now?

LC, that's great that Ethan is your new sous chef! I think the salad spinner is an excellent idea that I will borrow from you!

AFU, K has slept till 8am two days in a row - she was getting up at 6am on vacation. She also has had hysterical crying fits when the nanny left the last 2 days and acted strangely shy with the nanny in the AM. I wonder what is going on in her head. I think maybe she's afraid the nanny isn't coming back because were were on vacation for a week without her.

You know, I'm not sure. He must be around 37"? We had to move him up to 3T shirts because the 2Ts were starting to show his belly. It's funny, I'm on etsy right now wanting to buy a growth chart (the ones that look like giant wooden rulers)...and they pretty much all go to 6'6"...I'm contacting sellers to see if I can get one made that goes to 7'. B is just so much taller that DH was at this age and DH is 6'7"...of course, you never know. He could just be growing tall early and level out as he gets older.

And poor K It's so sad when they get that separation anxiety. Hopefully she's back to normal in no time.

 

[monarch64]

Amc, so cool that he is sleeping in his big kid bed! Alex has still never tried to get out of her crib, a fact that continues to amaze my mother who says we kids climbed out of ours before we were a year old or something insane like that.

I just popped in to post this picture of her from yesterday and her Tina Turner hairdo. There's a headband under there somewhere as well, she is now obsessed with hair accessories, which she calls "bows" or "hats" and would wear them to sleep in if I let her. I am totally fine with this since it gives me an excuse to go to Claire's again and re-live my own childhood accessory obsession.

 

[JGator]

Monnie, Alex is a stunner. I love her outfit and shoes! She's very stylish!

AMC, how's the big boy bed transition going? B is so advanced with his potty training and sleeping in a toddler bed.

AFU, not much new. K has been fussy lately - I think teething related. She is still missing the teeth on the bottom in front next to the middle two so I'm thinking those are next to come in. She has woken up and cried the last few nights in a row, but settled herself quickly. We signed her up for swimming and art classes this summer through our county. We have our first dentist appt on Thursday - wish us luck! K had her first hair cut on Saturday at a kiddie place - she screamed bloody murder the whole time and it was over in 5 mins so I have a feeling the dentist will be 10X worse.

 

[amc80]

AMC, how's the big boy bed transition going? B is so advanced with his potty training and sleeping in a toddler bed.

Ugh. Well, the first night was perfect, but since then it's around 30 minutes to get him to sleep. He thinks it's SO FUN to get out of bed and tiptoe to the door. I'm hoping the novelty wears off soon, because I really miss the few minutes of "me" time I get in the evenings. He has also come into our bed every morning around 6. I don't mind this so much, except that last night it was in the middle of the night. I'm sure if I would have picked him up and put him back in his bed he would have gone right to sleep, but at that ungodly hour I really didn't want to get out of bed.

 

[JGator]

AMC, we probably have that to look forward to, also! K started opening and closing her door repeatedly recently. She doesn't want to go to sleep at night - just continually open the door, go to the hallway, come back, close it and REPEAT!!! So, frustrating!!! I think you were experiencing this months ago with B's height! Good luck to you.

 

[amc80]

AMC, we probably have that to look forward to, also! K started opening and closing her door repeatedly recently. She doesn't want to go to sleep at night - just continually open the door, go to the hallway, come back, close it and REPEAT!!! So, frustrating!!! I think you were experiencing this months ago with B's height! Good luck to you.

Ugh, yes! We were lucky because our house had normal door knobs and B couldn't open them (although he made sure that all doors were closed at all times). Our new place has the other type of handles and he loves opening them. We got a child proof lock for his door handle so that will keep him from escaping.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Ahh, the doorknobs! Our old house had handles instead of knobs, so Ev could easily have figured those out. Our new house doorknobs that are a little tricky to open because the way they turn is pretty non-intuitive. It irritated me at first (and I thought our handles looked nicer too), but now I love the doorknobs because Ev can close doors, but can't open them. Like B, he is obsessed with having every single door in the house closed. He is constantly shutting all of our plantation shutters too, and we have a lot of windows!

amc, hopefully, you are right that once the novelty wears off, he will start staying in bed. We are keeping Ev in his crib indefinitely because he has never even attempted to climb out, and it's a huge crib, so he still has plenty of room. And wow he is tall. I think Ev is nearly 34 inches, and he is only two months younger!

JGator, during Ev's first haircut (when he was just over one year old), he loved it. The two subsequent haircuts, he has been just like K and cried the whole time grabbing for me and saying "up, up, up" over and over again. He doesn't care that they have cool airplane and car seats and bubbles and cartoons. Good luck at the dentist - yikes! We talked to our dentist, and he said that he doesn't see any need to bring him in for another year or so as long as we brush his teeth and all seems well. Our pediatrician thinks he should be going to the denist soon, so I don't know what to think.... He is very distrustful of all healthcare (and haircut) providers, so I'd like to put it off a bit when we can hopefully do a little more reasoning with him.

Monarch, cute hair! And outfit!

LC, great idea on having E help in the kitchen. Lately, Ev loves to be a little helper with cleaning, sweeping and dusting, etc., so we might have to start him on some meal prep stuff. In our house, DH actually cooks way more often than I do.

AFU, things have been really fun lately now that it is staying light out in the evenings and the weather is warm. We have been enjoying exploring our new yard and neighborhood. Ev continues to be a little chatterbox and always has a song to sing and a dance to dance. The only time he sits still these days is when he is in his highchair eating or reading his books. He has Spanish "lessons" several times a week at daycare, and some of it must be sinking in, because lately he say "adios" interchangeably with "bye bye." And he can now count to ten in both languages, which is pretty cool. I didn't learn any Spanish until junior high. Lately, he gets really upset when I try to take off his pajamas in the morning and tries to grab onto his shirt, so I can't take it off. I think he would prefer to sit around and play with us like he does on the weekends, and he knows that if we want to dress him immediately, that means he is going to school. He is also starting to have a preference on what he wants to wear. I've learned to offer what I'd really like him to wear second or third because he always says no to the first option

 

[NewEnglandLady]

amc, keeping my fingers crossed that B goes back to STTN in his new bed! And I feel your pain with the doors. we have handles on our doors, so K can open them easily. Also, the light switches. K is also 37", so she can reach most of our light switches. Turning lights on and off is just so much fun. I need some sort of sarcasm emoticon there. We bought one of those ruler height charts on etsy when K was about 15 months old and I mark her height every 2 months. I like being able to see the rate at which she's growing. Luckily, her growth seems to have slowed after turning 2. Granted, she's always been in the 99th percentile for height and still was at her 2 year appt., but I'm hoping it starts to taper off now. Dressing her is impossible. Anyway, I definitely recommend getting the ruler height chart--I feel like they should be able to customize it for you pretty easily!

MP, Ev sounds like he's really fun right now. The singing and dancing. And exploring a new neighborhood is always fun! How are you liking the new house? We're also keeping K in her crib indefinitely because she has no interest in climbing out. She's tall, but doesn't seem cramped in the crib. Or if she is, she doesn't seem to mind it. We even have a full-size pillow in her crib that she likes to sleep on. I bought the crib converter kit, but at this rate she may just eventually transition to a real big girl bed. Oh, and our pediatrician recommended seeing a dentist around age 2, but our dentist said he doesn't need to see her until she's 3. We'll probably split the difference

JGator, tons of luck at the dentist! I think most moms probably prepare themselves for a disaster of an appointment. But the dentist has probably dealt with it hundreds of times and I'd bet he handles it better than the parents At least, I think that will be the case for me, haha. So sorry about the teeth, but it's encouraging that she settles herself! And I think she'll love art and swimming!

monnie, fun hair!

LC, how fun that E can actually HELP you in the kitchen!! What a great idea to give him tasks he can handle. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen (not always cooking--lots of bottle washing and counter cleaning) and K loves to be in there. She even goes and gets her step stool from the bathroom so she can reach the counters. I mostly just tell her what I'm doing and let her nibble on things, but I'll try to think of more tasks for her to do. I've had to implement a no-toys-in-the-kitchen rule lately. Inevitably she wants to play in the kitchen while I'm working and I end up tripping over something.

AFU, not a ton going on. K finally started talking to the speech therapist during her EI sessions, so that's good. Vocabulary building is a still slow-going, but oh well! K is back in daycare after a 3-week break and I miss her during the day. I'm working part-time from home this week and next, but am selfishly keeping her home on Wednesdays because that's EI day Oddly, I noticed K growing more jealous of C when they were both home during those three weeks. K would want me to hold her while I was holding C, etc. But now that she's back in daycare, the behavior has stopped. Seems counter-intuitive to me, but maybe daycare makes K feel like a big girl. I'm interested to see what happens when they both start daycare in a couple of weeks.

We started a new class on Fridays (it's a sport class, but mostly soccer) and K is a mess. Up to this point, all of the classes have been WITH the parents. This class is geared more towards kids being able to listen independently. It's for 2 - 3 year olds, so it's age appropriate, but K can't handle it. She wants to cling to me. It breaks my heart that she's so shy and can't run around and play like the other kids. Especially because I feel like I've been trying to boost her confidence and expose her to other kids as much as I can. I just think she's a shy kid and there's NOTHING I can do to "break" her of it. Our EI therapist said it's good that she's not starting pre-school this fall because it's probably too much for her right now. But we should keep trying to do these classes where she's more on her own.

 

[amc80]

We had some success last night! I put a baby gate in his door jam. He woke up and was crying/whining, standing at the gate. As soon as he saw me he ran back to bed. I went in and tucked him in and he stayed there the rest of the night. Yay!

The good luck continued this morning. He got out of bed and immediately went to get a diaper. I took his off and it was wet, but not super wet like it usually is in the mornings. I asked if he needed to go peepee and he said yes, so I put him on the potty. And he went, and it was a ton of pee. I think it's really starting to click.

 

[amc80]

amc, keeping my fingers crossed that B goes back to STTN in his new bed! And I feel your pain with the doors. we have handles on our doors, so K can open them easily. Also, the light switches. K is also 37", so she can reach most of our light switches. Turning lights on and off is just so much fun. I need some sort of sarcasm emoticon there. We bought one of those ruler height charts on etsy when K was about 15 months old and I mark her height every 2 months. I like being able to see the rate at which she's growing. Luckily, her growth seems to have slowed after turning 2. Granted, she's always been in the 99th percentile for height and still was at her 2 year appt., but I'm hoping it starts to taper off now. Dressing her is impossible. Anyway, I definitely recommend getting the ruler height chart--I feel like they should be able to customize it for you pretty easily!

I found one that comes standard at 7'...should get here in a few days And, as a bonus, it was "only" $60 including shipping. Score!

 

[JGator]

AMC, I'm glad things are working out well with the toddler bed and that you snagged a 7' tall growth chart.

NEL, you were right about the dentist. They were amazing with K. I'm glad to hear K has opened up to the speech therapist. My K is very clingy and shy at her classes. I guess we just need to do our best to keep getting them out there in the mix with other kids their age.

MP, great to hear from you. That's amazing that Ev can count to 10 in English and Spanish. We are lucky to get to 3 in English with K. Also, very cool that he is expressing an interest in what he wears. K likes to walk around with clothes, but I don't think she cares what she is wearing.

AFU, the dentist appt went amazingly well. It was a pediatric dentist office so the office set up was very welcoming to kids. They had K's name on a welcome board and a small waiting room for the kids with sofas, tv, wall art. She hung out in there for a few minutes, and then we walked to the exam room on the way looking at all the Disney characters on the walls. The room itself had spider man and super man on the walls - the hygienist said they would just examine her teeth instead of a full cleaning this time so she would not be traumatized. She told me that K should sit on my lap and face me and then they would lean her back and put her head in the dentist's lap. She left the room and K decided to sit in the dental chair. When the dentist came in the room, K stayed in the chair. He reclined the chair back and she didn't flinch! There was a tv on the ceiling above her, but I don't think she noticed it. He showed her his little dental mirror and said he was going to count her teeth. Still no cries - I was shocked. She let him count all her teeth and touch them with his metal instrument. Then, he started to paint flouride on her teeth and about 1/2 way through that the squirming and crying started. It was quick. She came to me to hold her for a few mins and then we left the room and she got to pick prizes and a tooth brush. She was very calm so I was thoroghly impressed with the denist. So, we learned a few things. 1) she has a slight overbite due to her pacifier use - we need to get her to stop so it doesn't get worse - he suggested cold turkey, but whenever we are ready. 2) She has a thick frenulum on the top front of her mouth which causes a gap in her front teeth - he said he does not like to cut them due to scar tissue so we'll leave it and hope when her adult teeth grow in the gap closes. 3) we need to stop her nightime bottle of milk - he said give her a bottle before brushing and then switch her to water if needed. So, I'm actually glad we went this early since we learned about the overbite and frenulum. Even though K's pediatrician recommends 2 - this office does recommend 1 year olds come in. We have been trying to limit K's day time paci use so she has been a bit cranky and she has made up a new sign for I want my paci - which is her making a popping sound and pulling her finger out of her mouth. Too funny.

My inlaws are here again just for a few more days till they go back to Europe. My MIL moved all the Indian spices to a lazy susan cabinet (within K's reach when she was here earlier month) and K took the mustard seeds and opened them and shook them all over the floor. I took them away from her and went to get a broom and while I was gone, she got another powder out and proceeded to pour it over her socks and the floor! I took that away and she opened vitamins! UGGH!! So, I moved the whole stash of relocated MIL items to a higher shelf! Those mustard seeds are so hard to pick up and they keep spreading around the house!

 

[mia1181]

We started a new class on Fridays (it's a sport class, but mostly soccer) and K is a mess. Up to this point, all of the classes have been WITH the parents. This class is geared more towards kids being able to listen independently. It's for 2 - 3 year olds, so it's age appropriate, but K can't handle it. She wants to cling to me. It breaks my heart that she's so shy and can't run around and play like the other kids. Especially because I feel like I've been trying to boost her confidence and expose her to other kids as much as I can. I just think she's a shy kid and there's NOTHING I can do to "break" her of it. Our EI therapist said it's good that she's not starting pre-school this fall because it's probably too much for her right now. But we should keep trying to do these classes where she's more on her own.

Hey NEL, just wanted to chime in because K sounds just like a little girl I used to care for as a nanny! It was so difficult dealing with a naturally "shy" child! We did everything right. We never told her she was shy, we talked about times she was feeling shy, instead. We did play dates to work on social skills and classes where she wouldn't be able to cling us the whole time. We encouraged without pushing. We finally put her in daycare for part of the day even though I was full time because we just felt it would be good for her to learn to fend for herself. I just felt like nothing we did worked. She was always so scared and shy. It was so exhausting! And I said to myself I never wanted a child like that. Do you know what happened? She ended up just fine! She is 8 now and is doing so well. She has lots of friends and is just such a thoughtful and well-mannered little girl. She is still reserved and introspective, but she has really outgrown the "shy" label. She gets along just fine with peers and I don't know that most people would consider her shy.

What I've learned is that she was really just born that way. I used to wonder what we were doing wrong, and I blamed myself because I was her nanny from 2 months old. Maybe she had too much individualized adult attention? But looking back, she just always had those tendencies. I remember when she was a toddler, one of her favorite phrases was "be careful!" I remember a time when she was barely talking and she saw her father snowmobiling outside of our cabin, and she started yelling "be careful!" What toddler sees something like that and thinks "that is dangerous!?" She just always was that way.

So it sounds great that you have K in daycare and that you are working on things, but I wholeheartedly agree that it probably is just the way she is and she will probably do just fine as she gets older.

I wish O was a little more shy. She has started pushing and biting other kids and now I have that to work on!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

mia, thank you for sharing that, I find stories like yours really comforting. It's really nice to hear when shy kids come out of their shell and can socialize completely normally. Like you said, I think the key is not fighting against it, but helping them through it as much as possible. In parenting, I tend to take a couple of missteps before I get it right, and helping K with her shyness is no exception.

Also, it's really funny that the little girl you nannied for was so careful. K is very careful. While I still get nervous when she wants to climb on things, it's comforting knowing how careful she is. I still have to worry about her falling, but never have to worry about her jumping.

JGator, I'm so glad the dentist appt. went really well! K also has a thick frenulum on her upper lip. Was your K born tongue tied, by chance? We didn't know K had the upper frenulum until C was born (C was tongue tied). Anyway, I read that kids with lower frenulums often had upper frenulums. K has always had a gap in her front teeth, but I never thought to check for the frenulum until I read about it. K wasn't born tongue tied, so I guess it's more rare to JUST have the upper one. We had the ear, nose and throat doc look at K's and he said the same thing as your dentist--they tend not to do anything with the tissue unless it's still an issue when the permanent teeth come in.

Also, interesting about the over-bite. K is an avid paci user and I just checked her bite and she has an overbite. I did, too, so maybe it's genetic, but maybe I need to start cutting the tips off of K's pacis. She only gets them when she sleeps, but that's still a lot.

 

[mayerling]

NEL, how can you check for an overbite? N takes paris to sleep so you've got me worried now. Also, what do you mean by "cutting the tips off"?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

mayerling, when you look in N's mouth, do the upper incisors and canines project over her lower teeth? If so, that's an overbite. An overbite is no cause for alarm--I have one (which may be why K has one), but it's minor. I don't think it's usually addressed before the permanent teeth come in, then an orthodontist can take a look. I had mine partially corrected by braces. Anyway, thumb-sucking can sometimes cause an overbite, pacifiers less so, I believe.

And cutting off the tip of a pacifier deflates it, which should make it much less appealing to toddlers. I've heard of other moms cutting off the tip of the paci so their kids stop wanting it.

 

[mayerling]

This is interesting. I've always thought of an overbite as a case of the upper jaw being severely pronounced with the upper teeth not sitting nicely over the lower teeth. It never occurred to me that the upper teeth sitting flush on the lower teeth (which is what I have is a problem). I actually think it strange when I see people whose upper teeth just touch the lower teeth and when they smile I can see both rows of teeth. Live and learn! I don't think I would get orthodontics for N if all he has is my version of an overbite.

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC, hoping you're enjoying your little "grown up" vacation. I'm really hoping that B's sleep goes back to being great, but I have heard that the transition from crib to bed is a little more difficult once they realize they are no longer contained. I'm keeping Ethan in a crib until he's in college, lol. In all seriousness, he *can* get out. And he *knows* he can get out, but he'll ONLY do it when we're in the room, he wraps his arms around our neck and launches off the railing. But when he wakes up from sleeping, he just stands in his crib and calls out for me.

JGator, Glad the dentist appt went so well. Ethan really did not like the dentist band cried so much when we went. But he got over it quickly enough. We took Ethan after 1 yr old, and the dentist also told us suggested was 6 months old, and then come in every 6 months. Oh and I hear you on those mustard seeds beng a PITA to pick up. Ethan spilled a container of round/ball cake sprinkles and I"m still sweeping up a few here and there, 3 months later

Monnie, look at your sweet little imp Love how she's all into accessorizing

MP, our apt has levers for the doors so Ethan can get in and out of rooms so easily. Fortunately our place is SO SMALL it's not a big deal at all. A funny story, one of DH's friends, his dog knew how to open lever handled doors. So once the dog let the UPS guy in. Another time the dog ran out of the house because he was able to get out. They promptly changed to door knobs for the front door after those instances. Gah, I can't tell you how jealous I am that your DH cooks.

NEL, I'm hoping it'll just take K a few tries before she gets into the sports class. I remember even when she was a wee one, it'd take her a little while to come out of her shell. Sounds like you're really doing everything right though.

Mayer, I had to get an overbite treated when I was in grade school and my orthodontist said it's normal to have a little bit of an overbite since that's how the teeth naturally settle. But I had a massive one that had o be corrected via braces & surgery.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Mayerling, I agree with LC. It's normal to have your upper teeth cover your bottom teeth when you bite down. I wouldn't worry about it, and I don't think you would even knwo for sure until the permanent teeth start coming in.

JGator, that's awesome K handled the dentist so well. I am pretty sure we will not be so lucky! Interesting about the overbite and pacifier thing. I had always heard it wasn't an issue unless the kid is still using it at like 3 or sucks his/her thumb, but that's something I'll have to ask about. Ev is very addicted to his paci. Around the time Ev turned 18 months, DH and I started making a concerted effort to not give it to him except for nap time and bed time and sometimes in the car, but it's been really challenging. We've discovered just how dependent he is on it to help soothe himself. When he get upset or frustrated, he starts saying "Paci" and looking around for it, and it is so hard to distract him, so he usually ends up crying and having a fit. I keep hoping he will start to lose interest, but he hasn't yet.

LC, too funny about the dog and the doors! Our biggest problem with the doors is that he has started shutting himself into rooms, and then he starts giggling because he thinks it's a game of peekaboo.

NEL, that's great K is starting to talk a bit in EI. As for the shyness, it's sounds like you are doing all the right things. And she's still so young too, so it's hard to say how she'll develop. In the meantime, she's probably developing a lot of awesome personality traits that will serve her well by being more of a listener than a talker/need to be the center of attention type. I tend to be more reserved/introverted than extroverted, and Ev is really not that way at all. He is loud and loves to be the center of attention and have all eyes on him, and even if he is being "shy" with a stranger or someone he does not see often, he does it in a really dramatic, flirty way, that makes me think it is an act and ploy for more attention. He definitely didn't get it from me. So much of our personality is inane I think, and by bringing her to activities and exposing her to different settings, you are doing all you can to help make her feel more comfortable in new environments.

 

[JGator]

MP, K is super addicted to the paci too. We have tried to keep it from her during the day since we went to the dentist, but she is really attached to it, and it's going to be really hard when we try to stop it at night/naps/car also! I totally can relate to where you are coming from. I also thought we had until she was 2 to stop the paci which we may still end up doing as I think it would be miserable to go cold turkey on the paci stoppage.

NEL, K did not have a tongue tie so this was completely news to me. K faces me and buries her head in my leg/chest when we are out in public or around new people. I think we will be dealing with a shy one too.

LC, too funny on the cake sprinkles. I think/hope I have seen the last of the mustard seeds.

AFU, K loves wearing hats and sunglasses these days. She also has a ton of costume bangles and other bracelets from my MIL that she has been sporting lately. I think we have a girly girl in the making. The in-laws left yesterday so it's nice to get back to our old routine. K was up really late with them here since we ate dinner pretty late (it takes forever to cook Indian food!). We also had a 230am wake up, and I got up with K until 4am on Saturday night. That was no fun.

 

[Dandi]

JGator, I've often wondered how O's first dental appointment will go... not well, I'm thinking. He cannot handle sitting still for more than two seconds, unless it's to eat! I'm even dreading the first haircut. K is a little champ! Gosh I wish Oscar would happily wear hats and sunnies, he flat out refuses.

mp that is so awesome that Ev is already learning another language! He sounds like an absolute joy, I can't wait for our little man to really start talking and singing, it's still just jibberish at the moment. Not that I want to wish away his babyness, but every new stage is so exciting.

mia, what great tips re. shyness! Oscar really becomes introverted the minute we leave the house, which makes me look like a complete drip sometimes, I tell people what an outgoing, hilarious little bloke he is, then he turns into a marshmallow and refuses to look at people

amc, sounds like your little guy is really motoring along with his big boy bed and potty training. Awesome stuff mama!

OMG MONNIE! What a little stunner! And that hair is too too cute!!!

Hi mia, l_c, mayerling, mlk, NEL, Freke and anyone I may have missed!

I'm loving all the posts about kiddos reaching door handles and light switches, Oscar has JUST gotten tall enough to reach the bottom switches and it's driving me nuts! On/Off/On/Off/On/Off. AAHH! Probably moreso becuase we've been stuck indoors for the last week, I had to take O the the emergency department two Fridays ago as he was vomiting terribly for about 36 hours, and started to bring up vivid green bile. Blech Poor little devil was in for two nights having all sorts of tests and needles poked into his little arms, and thankfully all it was just nasty rotovirus. I got it too so that was reassuring that's what it was He lost so much weight and wasn't my little fatty anymore for a while there, boo!

All he's done for the last week is eat, eat, eat, so we are back on track. He had to go on a probiotic because he didn't poo for 8 days, poor dude! That's enough to miff anyone. He slept 3 or 4 hours a day and 14 hours some nights, so his little body had a rotten old time. He's back to his rambunctious, destructive self though, thank goodness! The pic below is him in his hospital cot, he was so bombed out all he could do was sleep, which is good I guess! The other is of him yesterday showing he has his appetite back by dismantling a bread roll

 

[monarch64]

Hey mommies! Hope everyone had a nice long weekend.

LC, what would happen if you told your DH you just don't feel like cooking? Would he step up and help or would it be an issue? Sometimes we get complacent or stuck in the roles we've gotten most comfortable in and don't realize there is resentment on behalf of our partner. Is there any dish your husband makes that you love? You could ask him to make it and tell him how amazing it is when he cooks? Sorry, not trying to solve your marital issues but you've mentioned it before so just wanted to offer solidarity and a suggestion. Glad Ethan is doing so well.

MP, Alex is not hooked on the paci but she does love her "gaga." I tried teaching her some Spanish a long time ago so I was saying "agua" for bottle and she pronounces it "gaga." Any receptacle with liquid inside is now a gaga and she has to have one if something upsets her or scares her, and we let her have a sippy of water at night. I don't think there is a concern because they don't have nipples and it's more of a comfort thing, it's not like she's sucking on it all night. I always have water on my nightstand so I figure why shouldn't she have access to water if she wakes up thirsty. Anyway, same dependence, different object.

Dandi, I'm so sorry to hear you guys were so ill! That must have been scary. Poor little guy, and poor mommy. Thank goodness you are both on the mend. He is a beautiful boy, as always. Alex had her first fever (102) last week and I admit I was a little terrified when daycare called me to come pick her up. It went down quickly with a dose of ibuprofen, but she slept and slept and slept. She was perfectly fine the next day. Weird. It is so unnerving when they are sick, I can't imagine dealing with norovirus although I'm sure we'll have it sooner or later.

AFU, Alex turned 2 on Monday. We had a nice little party with the grandparents as guests. She has finally figured out the concept of opening presents so she had a lot of fun doing that. She is really enjoying "school" and hasn't cried at drop offs for several weeks now. I walk past the outdoor play area a few times a week and it's fun to observe for a minute without her seeing me.

 

[JGator]

Dandi, poor Oscar in the hospital bed. He's just adorable as always though. I'm glad he bounced back quickly from the virus.

Monnie, Happy Birthday to Alex! She is so cute!!!! I love her smile for Poppy! Did she eat the cupcake? I like the pink car, too. I'm so glad you can spy on her at pre-school without her seeing you. That must be so fun!

 

[vintagelover229]

Hello mamas! I just want to say I'm a terrible poster and just scroll though to look at all the photos But everyone has such cute kids and there's no way I can keep up with this thread so if anyone is like me and just likes to see photos here are my shameless show-offs Things are going well here-he's in pull up's now (has been for a while) and is almost 20 months! Time sure does fly-he loves being outside and is all boy!

Daddy taught him to make a face and it's SO funny so I thought I'd share it here lol!

 

[monarch64]

Dandi, poor Oscar in the hospital bed. He's just adorable as always though. I'm glad he bounced back quickly from the virus.

Monnie, Happy Birthday to Alex! She is so cute!!!! I love her smile for Poppy! Did she eat the cupcake? I like the pink car, too. I'm so glad you can spy on her at pre-school without her seeing you. That must be so fun!

Thanks JGator! I forgot to tell you it takes me 4 minutes to make Indian food. I get the microwaveable pre-made kind though, I totally cheat! But it's still really good, my husband is a huge fan of all kinds of Middle Eastern foods. He has introduced me to a lot of amazing dishes and I am so thankful for that. One day we want to take a class together and learn how to make some of the basics really well. Oh to answer your Q: she ate the frosting but not the cupcake. I am partial to the frosting myself, so I understood.

VL, he is so handsome!!! I love your jacket/look. Earth goddess!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Monarch, it's funny you mention the sippy. Last night when we got home, Ev started having a meltdown because I wouldn't let him play outside during a thunderstorm (I'm such a mean parent ), and right away started his "paci, paci, paci" mantra. He was furious when I suggested water instead, but when I gave him the sippy (with a soft spout), he started sucking on that until he calmed down and became a rational being again, and then he hung on to the sippy for awhile after that. I do think a sippy of water is preferable to a paci addiction, so maybe we can use that as a weaning tool? Too cute about the agua/gaga. And what a beautiful little 2 year old! Happy belated birthday to A!

Dandi, ahh, poor little man! So glad he is on the mend. You know, Ev has had two episodes in the past few months, where he got some sort of stomach bug and just could not keep even a few drops of pedialyte down over the course of several hours and would vomit every few minutes. Both times, we have ended up at the emergency room because he wasn't getting wet diapers after 8-10 hours. Each time, they gave him Zofran, and he immediately was able to keep liquid down and bounced right back. It's like once he starts vomiting, his poor little stomach gets out of control. It's so scary seeing them that weak, and even more so with your poor little guy ending up hospitalized. Makes me so grateful he is generally a healthy little guy. I cannot even imagine what a parent goes through when their child has a serious illness like cancer. Unfathomable. And yes, you're going to love it when Oscar starts getting more verbal. It's like you have a little narrator following you wherever you go.

JGator, K does seem to be turning into quite the little diva! I bet she is entertaining! Glad you can relate to the paci thing. I feel terrible because when he does get it in his mouth, he gets this goofy grin on his face like he's perfectly content and in heaven. I don't know what you do once they become emotionally attached to it. I do know we never would have survived his infancy without it (he always needed something in his mouth), but in hindsight, I would have cut back on his usage before it became such a crutch I guess. At this point, I feel like he is going to have to get to an age I can somewhat reason with him in order to completely kick the habit.

AFU, I was just curious, for those of you have little talkers on your hands. Does your kid turn everything into a plural? For instance, Ev sees a single dog and says "puppies" or sees a star-shaped object and says "stars." The other funny thing he has started doing is calling every cat by one of our cat's names - Atticus. DH makes fun of my other cat because he's very full-figured (to put it nicely) and started calling him Chunky rather than his given name, and unfortunately, the nickname has stuck. Ev picked up on it and calls the fat cat "uhn-key" (which is also his word for monkey). So every other cat in the world is called "Atticus," but our fat cat gets called "uhn-key." One nice thing about him learning colors and animals and shapes is that I can sometimes get him excited about changing into and out of his pajamas by asking him if wants to wear his fishy pajamas or his "oh-range" shirt or his star outfit. If he knows the word or color and sees it on his clothes, he gets really excited to wear it. A very useful tool!

 

[monarch64]

MP, sounds like Ev might accept the sippy instead of a paci, yay! Let us know how that works out. As far as speech, I don't remember Alex pluralizing things. Her speech has changed so much recently, it's amazing. That's so cute about the cats' names! Alex is always so excited to get home and see Daisy. Her first word was "Daisy" pronounced perfectly, but somehow it has morphed into "Say-zee." Not sure what to make of that, but I guess she'll correct herself eventually.

Yesterday I took her to her 24 month checkup and it did not go so well. I picked her up at 1:30 not realizing it was nap time, so she was disoriented to begin with. Her father met us at the doctor's office but he could only stay for a few minutes so she was upset by his leaving, and then they had to draw blood a second time because the first lab result was off or something. She was not a happy camper. She did a good job with holding still for the blood draws but she was making the saddest face the whole time, I felt so bad for her. Poor planning with the timing on my part. I made our next appointment a mid-morning one so hopefully she'll forget about this one and things will go more smoothly in 6 months.

On a positive note, her funniest game now is pretending every object is a phone, holding it to her ear and saying "He-wo?" Sometimes we have multiple lines going. And sometimes we say "Hello? Shoe? This is phone. May I speak to Shoe?" and other silly things like that. Good times!