PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[amc80]

JGator, cute pics! Looks cold. That's how it should be here, but instead, it's about 65 and sunny. It was 75 yesterday. The drought this summer is going to be super fun

So, B has a "fun" new thing that is driving me nuts. When I tell him "no," he points at me and says it back to me. It's so darn cute but obviously not something I want to encourage. Aside from that sort of stuff, B is doing well. Something seems to have clicked inside his brain and he is understanding so much that I say. Potty training is starting at day care today, so I can't wait to hear how that went today. He managed to keep himself dry for a few hours yesterday while we were running errands.

Anyone else having problems with baby gates? The cheap ones (the ones with the wood frames) he simply removes. Regardless of how tight it is. He is nice enough to replace it after walking through, though. We have the fancier kind upstairs (the type where there is a door built in to open and walk through) and he's about 30 seconds from figuring that out.

Also, are there any sippies that don't leak? We use the Nuk ones but they are starting to leak. I'd love to hear suggestions.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, what a little cutie! Wow, you guys have a lot of snow right now! No fun at all this late in the year, but it can't last too much longer, right? I realized this weekend that Ev didn't really have any green to where, so I bought him a new green striped shirt this weekend. I don't know what it was about his outfit, but he looked about three years old today, and I was thinking how much has changed since last St. Patrick's day when I had him wear a St. Paddy's footed sleeper.

amc, I don't know if these are intended to be used for toddlers or just beginning sippy cups, but these ones have been really good in the leak department. When we go out, I throw one in my purse full of water, and if it is screwed on properly, it never leaks. http://www.amazon.com/Playtex-First-Sipster-TrainingTime-Ounce/dp/B0009EXN10/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395083555&sr=8-2&keywords=playtex+sippy+cups

As far as gates, these are what we installed at the top and bottom of our staircases. We have been really happy with them, and they seem very secure. DH was completely OCD about installing them, so I know they are not going anywhere anytime soon. http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Angle-Mount-Safeway-Baby-WHITE/dp/B006OJIK44/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395083918&sr=8-1&keywords=kidco+angle

And Ev has been doing that repeating "no" thing lately as well. If we say no to him, he will sometimes say "no no no" back and sometimes points at us. He is really asserting his independence lately, which I know is a normal developmental thing, but my goodness, it can get really frustrating when he insists on doing everything himself on his own time. That's awesome he is starting potty training. We are nowhere close!

AFU, we got the cozy coupe this weekend, and Ev LOVES it. He pretty much just wants to open and close the door and get in and out over and over again, but I think he will have a lot of fun with it. And it is much easier to push him in it than some of our other toys. I'd still like to get him some kind of convertible trike type thing, and we are also looking for some sort of a wagon for him too as an alternative to the stroller for walks. But I think we will get a lot of use out of them because all he wants to do is "go ahside (outside)" these days, and it is impossible to get him to come back inside without a fit

 

[JGator]

AMC, K hasn't broken through any baby gates yet, and we have no sippies that don't leak. Sorry, I can't help you out on those issues, but will be looking for advice from others! I'm jealous of your weather!

MP, yeah, it's going to be Spring tomorrow so hopefully that was the last of the snow! Fingers crossed! I'm glad Ev likes his car. K really likes hers.

AFU, K has been waking up around 630am every day like clockwork. I have caved and brought her to our room pretty much every day where she falls asleep with me for another hour. She cried for 17 mins today so I couldn't take it any longer and got her, but this time she didn't fall back to sleep in our bed - she started signing birds when she heard the birds chirping which normally would be cute, but not today! I hope this is a temporary issue, and think it may be teeething related, but I have no clue. She may just be spoiled from me getting her the last several days in a row. She also is still hardly eating - she refuses to eat her old standby fruits/veggies like strawberries, pears, avocados and sweet potatoes. She is eating baby food out of pouches, cut up grapes, and yogurt. And, she has added veggie sausage patties to the menu of foods she will eat - she will have 1/2 of one for breakfast. She has an 8 oz bottle of milk at night and maybe 4 oz from the sippy cup during the day at most. She won't eat cheese anymore either so I think/hope she is getting enough dairy/calcium with the 12 oz of milk and 1/2 yogurt that she typically will eat.

 

[lliang_chi]

JGator, don't sweat the food K is/isn't eating. Toddlers go through phases so much you can hardly keep track of things. Ethan goes in and out of yogurt, eggs, chicken, pork, etc etc. Int he grand schemem of things it sounds like you're OFFERING K a plenty balanced diet, she'll get everything she needs eventually. Sorry she's been waking earlier. But in our house 6:30 is late! Though recently Ethan's been sleeping in till 7AM and it's SO out of character for him. Also maybe K's waking with the earlier light. Do you have black out curtains in her room? When E was a baby I was like, "No! I'm not making a pitch black room a requirement for him to go to sleep." But when he started waking up at 5-5:30AM in the summer? Ugh... shoot me! I put black out liners on his curtains for this summer. Hopefully it'll help.

MP, Hooray, I love that Ev's loving his Cozy Coupe! So adorable he's taking it everywhere I'm glad the weather is decent enough for you guys to tool around outside with it. Awwww!!! What a big boy just driving around just like Mommy & Daddy. I saw they make Cozy Coupe trailers in case Ev wants to haul stuff too.

AMC, We use open cups for Ethan almost eclusively. The only exception is in the car, he has a water bottle. I have an Oxo straw bottle, but I think I"m going to switch to a kid sized Camelbak bottle.

JFo, Sounds like L's having a word explosion. I'm glad she's doing so well. Hoping you're feeling better. Ethan maybe had a night terror incident last night and was just *inconsolable* until about 20 mins. Hopefully these are few and far between, and I've learned to not take things personally with his outbursts.

AFU, things are going well here. Ethan's so much fun and is looking forward to watching "bah-ket-ball" with his daddy. We're meeting up with friends next weekend to do a March/Kiddo madness day, so that'll be fun. Oh and this weekend my sister flew back into town and OMG Ethan was just IN LOVE with his Auntie. He missed her SO MUCH and was stuck to her like glue. L loved every second of it too, she also really missed him.

 

[JGator]

Hi, LC, thanks for the reassurances. I think my main concern is she hardly eats any real food - I try giving her food and she spits it out. Example - ground turkey for dinner last night. So, she's constantly going to keep eating the baby food pouches unless I just stop them and only give her real food as an option. K falls asleep around 9pm and was waking up like clock work at 715 for a long time. Then, she switched to 8am for a few weeks, now 6 or 630. I work from home and start at 9am when the nanny arrives, so the later she wakes up the better for me as I don't have to get her out the door in the AM. That's great that Ethan is so close to his Auntie, both our sisters live far away and K has only met them each 1 or 2 times.

 

[lliang_chi]

JGator, don't feel like yours is the only toddler existing on pouches alone. There's TONS of kids like that. If your pedi wasn't concerned at your last well baby appointment, I'd also just chalk it up to a phase. Keep offering. Ethan will go through most of the week barely eating dinner, then chow down on some random thing one day. I also found that he eats better when we're eating with him. Peer pressure/group think.

 

[amc80]

JGator- B still eats pouches a lot. It's the only way I can get any form of vegetable in him. I try not to do it daily, but maybe every 2-3 days I'll give him one with dinner. B will eat exactly three things for lunch and dinner: 1) chicken nuggets, 2) baby meatballs, 3) sandwiches from a local sub shop. He won't eat sandwiches that I make, only from this one place. I joke that it's because I at it all the time when I was pregnant. He will eat the meat and sometimes the cheese. On a really good day he will have a few bites of bread. Those three foods are his staples. I always give him fruit. If I feel like he needs a break from chicken nuggets, I'll give him a Greek yogurt. That is an extra bonus since it takes him a while to eat.

I've brought up his diet to our pediatrician several times. He actually laughs and says there obviously isn't a nutrition problem since B is a giant. He did suggest a multivitamin, and I now give him 1/2 of a Flintstones vitamin every day.

B just refuses to try most foods we give him. Although he did grab a chunk of raw potato off the cutting board and try that

 

[lliang_chi]

Amc, Ethan refuses to eat the pizza I make at home, but chows down on the pizza they make at daycare. These toddlers don't make any sense.

 

[monkeyprincess]

Oh wow, some of you have kids with very discriminating tastes. I swear, Ev will pretty much eat anything we give him, although he seems to get sick of things if he has them too often. Usually when we offer him very obviously baby/toddler food, he would much prefer to just eat what we are eating. But it's nothing we did. I just think that is the way he is, and we usually try to eat meals with him as a family, so maybe that helped? I was a very picky eater, and still sort of am, so he definitely didn't get it from me. I actually worry sometimes he likes food so much, he'll be a chubster

Question for all of you, when did your little one become really steady when walking? Ev is 17 months and has only been walking for about three months now (he was a late bloomer). Anyway, the kid is still pretty clumsy and falls and trips a lot. He just doesn't pay attention to what is under his feet or where he is going, or more often, he just trips over his own feet or something. I'm not particularly worried, but is this something I should be asking the doctor about? I am sure a lot of it is normal (and he probably inherited some of my own clumsiness ), but I was just curious how long it took for your little ones to stop falling down on a daily basis after they learned to walk.

 

[amc80]

Question for all of you, when did your little one become really steady when walking? Ev is 17 months and has only been walking for about three months now (he was a late bloomer). Anyway, the kid is still pretty clumsy and falls and trips a lot. He just doesn't pay attention to what is under his feet or where he is going, or more often, he just trips over his own feet or something. I'm not particularly worried, but is this something I should be asking the doctor about? I am sure a lot of it is normal (and he probably inherited some of my own clumsiness ), but I was just curious how long it took for your little ones to stop falling down on a daily basis after they learned to walk.

Gosh, I don't remember. It wasn't all that long after he started walking, though...maybe 13 months? He only trips now when he's not paying attention, or sometimes when he's sprinting. I'm sure it's totally normal, especially if he just started walking a few months ago. I bet a lot of it has to do with distraction.

 

[JGator]

LC, I forgot to respond earlier, K does have black out curtains already. And, you are right, she's in the 60% for weight so I guess I should stop worrying.

AMC, at least B will eat meat. K doesn't eat meat if it's not in a baby food pouch! I keep trying, and she keeps spitting it out. I hid a few crumbs of ground turkey on her spoon of pureed veggies the other day, and she spit it out. She's can't be fooled. We even tried to give her a taste of ice cream today, and it was like we were force feeding her to get her to try it! Don't get me started on teeth brushing - that goes about as well as the ice cream attempt these days!

MP, K still falls every day multiple times, and she started walking at 14 months also. She falls a lot when she switches surfaces like from carpet to hardwood or when she starts walking too fast. She had a nice bruise on her face last week from falling in a doorway. You are so lucky Ev is a good eater - one less thing to worry about!

 

[lliang_chi]

MP, I wouldn't worry too much about Ev being a chubster unless your doc starts telling you to lay off the carbs or something. And besides at this age, they're totally allowed to be all fat and pudgy, might as well live it up. As far as Ev's tripping and clumsiness, I'm sure it's just normal. Ethan still falls (albeit far less often) and he's been walking for a yr now. Sometimes they're just going too fast for their bodies to handle, y'know?

JGator, K sounds like she's fine in terms of weight. As far as getting protien in her, its's OK if hse doesn't eat meat if she gets it otherwise. I think I remember she liked lentils and yogurt so those are both excellent sources of protien for her. Does she like eggs too?

AMC, I wouldn't say Ethan's a picky eater, but more like he doesn't like my cooking. Which I "take offense" to because I'm a really damn good cook. Whatever, I learned not to take anything personally with him.

 

[JGator]

LC, she used to eat white beans but refuses those now. So, her protein comes from the yogurt, veggie sausages, and the baby food packets of chicken/turkey. She also will eat frozen peas once in a while - I think they help with the teething. She won't eat eggs. She had them once in fried rice when we were at a Japanese steak house, but she won't eat them when I make them at home. I keep trying - one of these days.

 

[pancake]

Jgator, you are doing exactly the right thing - you just gotta keep offering everything, eventually she will try it! I read somewhere that the average toddler needs to be offered something TWENTY times before he/she will even try it!

 

[Puppmom]

JGator, K is such a doll. Seriously one of the most beautiful children I've ever seen! I can totally sympathize with you. N1 is a terrible eater and doesn't even really eat standard kid foods like pasta, hot dogs etc. We just try to offer and always have available things that are healthy for him that he WILL eat. We do have a lot of waste unfortunately. My main concern with him is his weight. He's in the 95th percentile for weight but only the 25th for height. I'm hoping he evens out a bit by the time his 4th birthday rolls around.

Monkey, N1 walked right after his first birthday but A.) it was a long time until it was his main mode of transportation and B.) he fell down a lot...for a while. DH made this awesome video of the process so mostly taking steps, falling down and getting up. N started walking in early August and I have video from October containing frequent falls. I remember being afraid to let him walk outside because I didn't want a bad fall on the pavement. I don't know if this will come up with Ev but it also took N1 a while to have the coordination to climb so steps and furniture were not even on his radar till much later. I didn't realized he was delayed in that sense until we were talking to N2's therapist and she said they like to kids be able to get onto adult furniture by 15 months. N1 was almost 2!

LC, how's E liking March Madness? I don't know about you but I love how much my kids love DH. They seriously adore him!

AMC, how's potty training going? We basically put zero effort into it until daycare started. Shame on us! N1 was potty trained full time at daycare before he was even really going on the potty consistently at home. Then, once we had him fully trained (besides overnight) he would pee his pants when MIL watched him...like all day. If you're looking for advice (ha!), I would just say relax, it'll happen. I was so uptight and frustrated but it was all for nothing. He figured it out.

NEL, that picture is priceless! How's life with two treating you? How did the EI meeting go? We have N2's EI meeting next week. His is for gross motor.

Monnie, sorry A is protesting the potty. N1 was pretty difficult and the more we pushed the more he resisted. She'll get there. I'm of the opinion that changing diapers is better than negotiating the potty every 20 minutes. It's so exhausting! Of course I have hindsight on my side and I was thinking exactly like you 6 months ago!

AFU, the boys are great. N1 cracks us up on the daily, is still a terrible eater and now a half-decent sleeper. DH made him the most amazing reward chart for sleeping in his own bed and it's actually working. He's such a sweet boy and still a great big brother. Every night before bed the boys dance together to "Meatballs of Fire" aka "Great Balls of Fire". It's the cutest thing and by dance I mean jump on the bed. N1 has decided to call the baby Natey McNoodle which has been shortened to Noodle. So N2 hasn't been called by his proper name in ages.

N2 is doing well too. The private PT has been going well and DH busted his a$$ working with him every day. As of 6 weeks ago, N1 could not get on all fours, crawl, pull up, cruise or walk. He can now do all of those things. Murphy's law - his EI evaluation is April 1. Jokes on us! This kid is so chill. Thank goodness because you know who is HIGH MAINTENANCE. He is an olympic sleeper. He's still nursing which is fine by me. I'm just happy I'm not tied to the pump any longer.

DH just quit his job to study for a new career opportunity. He spends most of his time studying (all day M-W-F and T-Th nights) but he's home with both boys and Tuesday and Thursday and it's going well. DH and I have are differences and sometimes I wish he would do more me but the man is an AMAZING dad. Zero complaints in that department. The plan is for him to do this for the next 4-6 months then have both boys in daycare part time. Right now N1 is part time and N2 doesn't go at all.

And, in not so good news, we just found out that our 19 year old daughter is pregnant. It's pretty devastating but I'm handling it better than I thought I would. I'm trying to have a positive attitude but it's hard. I'm managing though. As she gets further along and things get more real, I anticipate it'll be more challenging for me. Plus, she's away at college so it's not in my face everyday. Ugh...it just plain stinks to be honest.

 

[Puppmom]

Since I ended on such a crappy note here's a pic of my sweet baby

 

[ImperfectGirl]

Hello ladies!

I went back a few pages and *swoon* all of your tots are just adorable! Eeeek...I can barely stand how cute they are! I'm jumping in and want to be active on this thread as there is so much to glean from moms with kids in the same age range.

I have a 25 month old daughter, Avery, who is such a joy! For the most part, she's been such an easy child with one exception...pooping! I'm hoping that someone here has some experience with this and can offer some suggestions. Ever since she was an infant and started eating table food, her BMs were not very frequent and it seemed that she struggled to go. We would give her the prune/apple juice mix and it's always been important that she snack on fresh fruit. I consciously include fiber in her meals and now she drinks a good amount of water daily. At the recommendation of our pedi, we also give her miralax in her milk once a day. Unfortunately, all that has still not helped. When she feels the urge to go, she immediately begins running in place/jumping up and down. She'll start crying and runs to me or DH for comfort. I, myself, know all too well the pains of constipation so I recognize her jerking and tears/screaming as legitimate. She struggles so much and, of course, I know that some of it is mental at this point. She fears going. It's difficult to see her in pain. She normally doesn't go daily, maybe every other day. I know she's holding it if she can which then continues the cycle of constipation. About a month ago, she was having a particularly rough day with pooping and kept saying that her butt and her tummy hurt. I saw what I believed to be a hemorrhoid and there was a little blood in her poop so I took her to the ER because she's never complained of her butt or tummy hurting. They did an enema, and let me say, I was shocked at the amount of poop that came out of my child I've never had an enema, but I imagine that they aren't comfortable so she was screaming and I had to hold her on the toilet to avoid coating the bathroom with poop. The next few days her pooping seemed easier. She seemed genuinely surprised that it happened relatively easy. But now it's back to the way it was and trying to get her to sit on a toilet for potty training now is impossible. I think she's traumatized from the hospital bathroom/enema because before then she'd sit on the potty with no problem although she wasn't voiding in it.

Anyway, I'm tired of seeing my baby struggle with something that should be easy. Has anyone else gone through this? The one good thing about the ER visit is that the ER Dr. did put in a referral for a pedi GI appointment. We're military and everything is slow so we're still almost a month away from that appointment so I thought I'd ask you ladies for any input.

Thanks so much!

 

[monkeyprincess]

Puppmom, hey there. What a little cutie that N2 is. He looks like such a little sweetheart. Thanks for the information on N1's walking and development. Very helpful to hear your experience. Ev loves climbing stairs and can sometimes pull himself up onto the couch, but he doesn't attempt that very often and usually needs help. I guess I'll just keep watching it and maybe ask his doctor next month at his 18 month well check. I watched him quite a bit over the past week, and I do think he is a bit clumsier than he probably should be, but most of the time it is when he is moving too fast or gets distracted. It's like he just doesn't have much awareness of his body's limitations yet and hasn't quite figure out all of the balance things. So sorry to hear about your daughter and her pregnancy. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be as a parent. I know that is not the future you envisioned for her, but hopefully, you will all make the best of it and she will be able to stay in school and support herself and the little one. Hugs.

IG, welcome. Glad to have you join us. I'm glad to hear everything is going well with your little one (well except the constipation issues). I followed your story on the adoption thread. After all you went through, it makes me so happy you are where you are now. I really wish I had some advice to offer on Avery's bowel troubles, but that really has never been a problem with Ev. It sounds like you are doing everything I could think of to do regarding the fiber and water, etc. I really hope the specialist is able to figure out some solutions for you, and maybe somebody on here will have some ideas.

JGator, I agree that K is such a beautiful little girl How's her eating? You certainly have had your struggles with her with the sleeping, etc. She's just a strong-willed little thing that knows what she likes, which will probably serve her well in the future. Hopefully, some of these eating issues will work themselves out.

AFU, all is well. My sister and BIL stayed with us last weekend, and Ev loved having four adults doting over him all weekend. Like LC mentioned earlier, I love seeing his connection with my sister. Even though he only sees her every few months, I think she must seem familiar and simliar to me, so he's drawn to her immediately. He has started making up these funny little games. He will come up to us and say "Row Row" when he wants us to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat and holds his hands while he sways back and forth like he's rowing. He will go from person to person and make everybody do it a few times. He also likes it when you pat his mouth and his says Ahh, and when he wants you to do it, he says "I Ya" because that's kind of the sound it makes I guess. He keeps us laughing pretty much all the time, except when he's being frustating. I swear toddlers are bi-polar

 

[JGator]

Pancake, thanks for your advice. We will keep offering her things.

Pupp, N2 is a cutie pie! Love his smile. Does he look a lot like N1? K doesn't climb up on furniture without help so I will keep an eye on that now. Thanks for the compliments on K. I'm glad your DH is such a great dad and hit with your children! Hope things work out as best as they can with your daughter. Do you think you will end up being a primary caretaker for the baby?

IG, your daughter sounds like what our pediatrician warned us about on our last visit. K gets constipated a lot - and we give her a packet of baby food prunes and that seems to clear things up for her immediately. Our doctor said not to give her rice, apples, and bananas ever and not to force potty training too early because with the constipation you can have psychological issues where children are afraid to use the potty. Good luck with Avery, and hopefully the pediatric GI can get to the bottom of her issues quickly. I'm so happy you will be posting here because I have thought of you often after going through the adoption journey vicariously with you on the other thread.

MP, K is eating okay. But, not as much as she used to a few months ago. She used to eat almost an entire avocado - now she'll have a few bites. I have to distract her to get her to eat. Like switch to something else and then go back to the original food. For example, I will throw in frozen peas if she is refusing everything, and then after a few peas, she'll consider eating the other things on the tray. At least she still will eat baby food in packets - but she tends to only do that if she has two - one in each hand to alternate between! I have a really quirky kid! I'm glad Ev is so funny and verbal. K has been cracking us up lately too! Thanks for the compliments on K. You need to post some new pics of your handsome guy too! I blame K's strong willedness on her Daddy - I am very laid back and DH can be very type A so I have a feeling they will be clashing as she gets older, and I'll be the mediator!

AFU, K will be 17 months old on Saturday. We noticed she has her first molar on the bottom Left side now ( a new area to brush)! She has the 2 middle teeth on the bottom and 4 on top. So, there are 2 empty spots between her bottom teeth in the middle and the molar - kind of odd! Her favorite word these days is a string of No, No, No, No, No..... She woke up last night at 1am and I rocked her for a while and eventually brought her to our bed - she kept squirming around so I brought her back to her room and rocked her for a bit and eventually got her back in the crib at 3am! I'm exhausted. I will not be picking her up at 1am again! That did not go well. She's eating a little better - she had turkey chili which was something new earlier in the week twice, but she wouldn't eat it the 3rd time I tried. It has been difficult to get her to sit in her high chair lately - she keeps arching her back and straightening her legs when I try to put her in it. She also gives me a really hard time with teeth brushing and has a fit/panic attack when I do it. She loves shuttling items from one room to another. We have some fabric that the previous owners of the house left in a coffee table in our sunroom. She loves to take the fabric scraps out, put them on her head, walk around, then move them from the coffee table drawer to and end table drawer. She also loves getting into the cabinets/pantry and taking things out of boxes - like granola bars, tea bags, etc.

 

[ImperfectGirl]

Monkeyprincess, I'm imagining the rowing...how cute! Ave loves row, row, row your boat as well but instead of singing the word merrily she sings money, lol. It's sweet that Ev is drawn to your sister. Sounds like you all had a lovely weekend.

JGator, Ah, the tooth brushing. It was a struggle for us for a while too but once her daycare started brushing teeth after each meal, Ave has grown to love it. Sounds like K is busy exploring! I can't imagine all that goes through their little brains when they're discovering new things.

Thanks to both of you for chiming in on our poop troubles. We are taking it 1 day at a time and have completely backed off potty training. We need to figure out what's going on first.

 

[lliang_chi]

IG, SO WONDERFUL to see you here! I'm so glad A's thriving and doing so well. It makes me so happy to hear how much joy she's giving you, especially after all the adoption highs and lows you shared on the other thread. Re the poop issues, definitely good you are going to a pedi GI and make sure the GI takes a X-ray. If she's holding it you'll need to hopefully stop the habit before it stretches her colon. That's called something that starts with a E and it requires retraining which is doable but takes time. Don't feel bad about giving Miralax, the body doesn't develop a dependency on it to keep itself regular. I know one mom who gave her 5 yo an adult dose of Miralax every day (on pedi GI orders).

Pupp, OMG what an adorable sweet little man N2 is. I'm so glad N1 is getting better on STTN. Yes, I love how much E loves being around DH. It warms my heart. So sweet that N1 is calling N2 Natey McNoodle. What a cute nickname. I'm glad PT is going well, and sounds like things are great. Well, no harm getting the EI to evaluate anyway, even with all the progress N2 has made. At the very least they'll give you things to keep your eye on etc.

MP, Aw so sweet that Ev had so much attention and so loves his Auntie. I'm sure your sister loved lavishing attention on Ev too Ethan *loves* Row Row Row Your Boat too. That and Wheels on the Bus. Now he just mixes songs up together or making things up. Like Row Row the Bus or Wheels on Mama Car goes up the spider. It cracks J up all the time. And J has started singing to Ethan since Ethan loves singing. You would've NEVER caught him singing ever before Ethan. So sweet. LOL to toddlers being bi-polar. Yes TOTALLY and unarguably true

JGator, Ethan started fighting the booster/high chair we have so we just let him sit in the chair with us. He'll also want to sit in Mama or Dada wap (lap) too. We indulge him not sure if we should, probably not. Great that K ate turkey chili, so seems like she's just exhibiting typical toddler antics. And I started giving E stickers when he brushes his teeth properly.

NEL, how's K's EI appointments?

AFU: E's finally had a little poop in the potty on Monday. DH made a big happy deal about it, but E was still really embarrassed about pooping. So we'll still wait and just change him when he has a poop in his pants/pull ups.
He's SO MUCH FUN NOW!!! Gosh I can't get enough of him most days. Some days he's a big cranky pants. But most days he's a blast. It's so hard understanding him now that he's saying or trying to say sentences. So I just pick up the words I do understand and context fill the rest. You can tell he gets so annoyed that I don't understand him though. It's kinda funny.
It's still cold here so unfortunately havne't gotten much outside time. hopefully it'll warm up soon enough.

 

[FrekeChild]

I've given up on potty training for now. No real updates, because we've all been kind of sick, so I figured I'd post a couple of pics instead. It's been warm here, until yesterday, so we've been spending a lot of time outside - enough for me to already have tan lines. Sigh.

A picked out some flowers and I gave her a section of our yard for her garden. Red petunias, orange flowers, pink flowers, and violet petunias. I'm bad at remembering flower names! Having said that, we have hydrangeas, columbine, periwinkle in other areas of the yard. I'll try to post a picture of her garden area soon, once they've gotten bigger. We're also trying to grow some strawberries since they'll do well in our climate.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Freke, it looks so warm there! I'm so jealous! Adorable pics as always.

LC, so cute that E is saying sentences, even if ther is some gibberish in there. And we're in the same boat with the cold weather. I can't wait for it to warm up so we can spend more time outside. Oh, and EI appts. start next week. We just finalized the paperwork this week. Between the evals and paperwork, getting started takes forever!

IG, so sorry about the constipation, it's so hard to see them in any pain at all. One of my friend's kids has a "lazy bowel". She's always had constipation issues, but was diagnosed when she was 2 and is now 3. She has to drink what is essentially prescription juice every day, but it works!

Jgator, so glad K is eating a little better! I wonder if the sleep episode could have been caused by a bad dream. K seems to have bad dreams from time to time and has a hard time settling herself. Then again it could be the molars coming in. Or just a bad night for her. At least her sleep opisthotonos still better than it was before! We had a similar experience with the high chair where K hated getting in. Same with the car seat and diaper changes. We just fought through it and K turned a corner at 18 months.

MP, E is such a cutie with the little games. I agree that it's fun to see them interact with adults. I wish K had some aunts or uncles here. And I completely agree about toddlers being bipolar. When K is being challenging I try to remind myself that within 5 minutes she'll likely be laughing again.

Pupp, such a cute photo! My DH is the same way--great father, not so helpful on the domestic front. I tell him it's a fair trade, haha. Life with 2 is not easy, but not as bad as I thought. I got lucky and have an easy newborn. In fact, The toddler is more challenging! I think life will get tougher when I go back to work.

So sorry about our daughter. Two of my sisters were teen moms and several of my nieces are, too. It's impossible to understand the impact a baby will have on your life at that age. It's just hard for everybody.

AFU, nothing new to report. Like LC said, I'm finding K to be a lot of fun these days. Not many meltdowns anymore and I find that if I let her make choices, she's not always shaking her head no.

Crying baby...must run!

 

[lliang_chi]

Pupp, I wanted to add that I'm for the tough news that your daughter is pregnant. It is and will be such a challenge for her and I hope you all can adjust to the news. Will she be coming home and attending college locally? I can't imagine trying to raise an infant and attend college without family support. And my friend's sister got pregnant as a teenager (18 yo) and she went on to become a bioengineer and is working in a very good professional job and even started her own company with her 2nd husband for some kind of blood work machinery. Really brainy stuff.

 

[FrekeChild]

Pupp, I just got done having a playdate with a mom who had her first at 19, went on to finish her bachelors, then went to graduate school and became a professor. All is not lost. Hugs!

 

[jfo]

Hi all, I'm sorry it's been a bit since I've last visited and there's so much to catch up on.

I love the new photos of everyone's kiddos! JGator, K is just gorgeous as always. Puppmom, what a cutie pie N2 is! Thanks for sharing. Freke, A is looking so much like a big girl now. I love her dresses and I'm so jealous of your gorgeous weather.

IG, welcome! I'm sorry that Avery has been struggling with constipation. What a terrible thing for her. It sounds like others have shared some good thoughts with you. I'm afraid that I'm no help, but I really hope that she will find some relief soon and the pedi GI can help too!

puppmom, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. That's a life-altering change that will hopefully be something that she is up for and will handle well. Thanks for sharing the information about N1's development. My daughter is quite verbal and great at her fine motor skills, but seems to be a bit behind in her gross motor skills. She started walking around 13 1/2 months, and she turned 17 months yesterday and she still falls down quite a bit. She can get down from adult furniture no problem, but I literally don't think I've ever even seen her *try* to climb onto our furniture. She does climb the stairs without issue other than when she wants to try to walk up the stairs like a big kid and she just doesn't have the coordination yet.

NEL, glad to hear that K is doing well and so much fun! Hope everything goes well when EI starts. How is C doing? More photos of your beauties, please!

LC, too cute about E and his auntie! It sounds like he's just a blast these days and hooray for pooping on the potty! Ha ha about him occasionally being a cranky pants. This morning, L was surly from the start. Her mood apparently brightened up when DH dropped her off at daycare, but he said that she must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. She turned it around though!

MP, ha ha, I love reading about what Ev is up to these days. I feel that between Ev and JGator's K, your little ones and my L have so much in common, especially since they're right around the same age! L is totally into singing "Row Row" these days. How adorable about Ev and his aunt and uncle. As I mentioned earlier, L still falls down quite a bit. Probably once a day, if not more. I try not to show it, but I'm often a bit on edge when we're outside walking around. Because the winter has been so terrible, L hasn't had much opportunity to walk outside, whether it be on pavement or grass or other uneven ground. What sucks is that when she falls forward, she falls right on her face--she hasn't figure out how to try to break her fall with her hands. So she's fallen flat on her face on the sidewalk on a couple occasions, which has led to a bloody mouth and fat lip. Ugh, I just have to remind myself that she won't improve if I don't let her do it! But I probably am going to ask our pedi the same thing at her 18 month appointment if I don't see her start to get better coordinated.

JGator, happy 17 months to K! L has one molar on her bottom right side and I imagine the molar on the left will probably start to come in soon. She's been drooling and sticking her fingers in her mouth quite a bit. I'm sorry to hear that K's sleep has been a little more erratic recently. Hopefully it's just a phase related to teething. We've had some sleep struggles of our own recently. I'm glad to hear that K has been a bit better about eating. I have to say, I've started to realize that L's eating habits--willingness to try foods and how much she eats--changes literally from week to week, and some every few days. I just try to go with it as much as I can and recognize that she's growing fine, so I shouldn't stress too much. She doesn't always want meat, so I try to give her protein in other ways like giving her eggs, thin layer of peanut butter on toast or cottage cheese. I do wish she would eat more vegetables though. Brushing teeth is very rarely without a screaming fight with L. She's ok to "brush" her own teeth which mainly consists of her sucking on the toothbrush, but she absolutely hates me brushing her teeth. I try to sing some silly brushing teeth songs, but it only helps for a few moments. I hope it gets easier for both of us!

AFU, we went out of town last week/weekend to visit DH's family. The weather was much milder than it's been here that we tried to be outside as much as possible. L absolutely LOVED playing outside and with her cousins--boys that are 7 and 9 and girl who is 21 months. She was great both ways in the car (trip was 6 1/2 hours each way) and I was able to keep her entertained for the most part or else she napped. The first night at my BIL's house though was a total nightmare. We were all in the same bedroom together and L was supposed to sleep in a pack and play. She unfortunately woke up 3 hours after going to bed, stood up, saw DH and I in bed and starting wailing loudly enough that I had to go pick her up so she wouldn't wake the whole house up. Let's just say that I slept for maybe a 1/2 hour the whole night, and L and DH slept for maybe 3-4 hours. It got better the next night because DH slept elsewhere and L slept in the bed with me all night. By the third night, she slept in the PNP by herself all night. The fourth night we spent at my SIL's house and L woke up around 4 am and never went back to sleep. We came home last Sunday, and all week, she's been waking up more frequently and waking up for the day between 5:30-6am, which is earlier than normal for her. I'm hoping that it's just teething related and trying to get back into the routine rather than a change in expectations because I let her sleep in the bed with me/held her while she slept.

I know that this topic has been brought up before, but I am trouble finding where it was discussed. When we were at SIL's house, L really enjoyed playing with our 21 month old niece's play kitchen. It kept her entertained for easily 15-20 minutes at a time with her opening and closing the oven, fridge and cabinet doors and putting pots and pots on the cooktop. Hers was a Fisher Price plastic kitchen, but DH and I were talking about getting a wooden one. It wouldn't fit in our kitchen (we don't have an eat-in kitchen), so it'd be in a relatively small space (accomodates something at most 40" wide) right next to the kitchen. Any suggestions? I was personally looking at these three, but they're all quite a bit different from one another: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Corner-Wooden-Kitchen/dp/B003KYTT7S/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
http://www.amazon.com/Hape-Creative-Cookery-Club-Educo/dp/B000A6L6WK/ref=cm_cd_al_qh_dp_i
http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-Navy...2605&sr=1-4&keywords=kidkraft+vintage+kitchen

 

[JGator]

IG, thanks for the support on tooth brushing. I will keep trying and maybe she will get used to it.

LC, I will have to look for some tooth brushing stickers for K. That's a great idea. I'm so happy Ethan is able to express himself in senences now.

Freke, love the beautiful pictures of A. She's adorable. I'm glad you have been able to get into gardening in the new house. We need to plant something soon whenever it stops snowing. It snowed yesterday AGAIN!!! Uggh.

NEL, thanks for the suppot. I'm looking forward to K turning the corner at 18 months! You are a rock star mom for taking care of 2 little ones. Post some more pictures when you get a free moment.

Jfo, sorry to hear about your sleep issues with L at your inlaws. That sounds like something that would happen to me with K! I'm glad I'm not the only one with teeth brushing issues too.

AFU, K has a new routine - she wakes up around 6/630 and then sleeps in our bed till about 715 daily. I am just going with it for now even though I know it's not a good long term situation. K loves her baby doll. Here are some pictures of her new obsession - putting diapers on her baby.

 

[amc80]

JGator- what cute pics!! I love the diaper over the clothes look. Fashionista!

We got B a balance bike over the weekend. He hasn't figured out the "balance" part of it, but he does "ride" it. He straddles it and walks and steers. There were two to chose from. One of them was smaller with a double back wheel (two wheels side by side) which was easier to balance. But the frame itself was too small and he would have outgrown it quickly. The one we got is a bit big for him but at least it will last a while.

He is really starting to become a little boy. Yesterday, I asked him if he needed to go pee pee. He said yes, so I sat him on the potty. He immediately went pee...then, while I was cleaning up, walked over, grabbed a diaper, and laid on the floor....without me even asking. That sort of stuff just amazes me.

 

[jfo]

JGator, omg, those photos are adorable! K's hair is getting so long. How cute that K loves her baby doll and putting diapers on her baby. In terms of the sleeping in your bed for the extra 45 minutes in the morning, I don't really see that as a big deal--she's spending the majority of the night sleeping in her crib, so that's great!

amc, it sounds B is going to figure out the balance part sooner rather than later with his balance bike. He seems like such a coordinated kid. Wow, what a good, smart boy to pee on his potty and get ready for his diaper for his mama! They learn quickly, don't they?

We ended up ordering the KidKraft vintage kitchen in red and some pots/pans and play food. I think that L will really like being able to open and close all the different doors for the oven, fridge/freezer and pantry storage and pretending to cook and clean like mama.

Random silly story. I haven't put bows in L's hair simply because her hair hasn't been long enough until recently. When visiting DH's family, my SIL gave us a set of bows and I put one in her hair. Everyone kept saying, "Awww, L, you look so pretty!" to encourage her to not pull that bow right out! Now she's totally into them and if she spots a bow, she points at it and says, "so pretty!" and motions to put one in her hair.

Here's a few photos of the kiddo... enjoying the better weather we're having for a few days anyway...

 

[lliang_chi]

Aw, JFo, I was getting excited we'd see a little bow in her hair. You must post another one with it. Sorry L had some rough sleep. I hope she's back to normal now.

JGator, K is so big now! When we were transitioning Ethan off diapers he still wanted them, so I would assuage him by offering to diaper his stuffed animals while he put on underwear or training pants. So his friends look like K's there with diapers on.

Timeouts for tantrums? Does anyone do it? Ethan's 2 yr + 1 month, I'm pretty sure he can do it now. So far we've just done timeouts for hitting and that has been effective.

AFU not much else is new. Wanted to add a recent pic of Ethan.