PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, we do timeouts for tantrums. Not every single one (or she would have been in about 1,000 timeouts between 23 and 24 months), but the ones we feel are appropriate. I'm a big fan of consistency, so that can make it challenging, but for me it's not too difficult which tantrums are ignore-able, and which need to be addressed. We're still doing the 1-2-3 thing, so she'll usually stop throwing a fit at 2 and we avoid the timeout.

The trickiest time for me is when K is tired or hungry. I try to ignore tantrums at those times unless they are especially egregious.

One caveat--I don't put her in timeout for a specific amount of time. I walk her to the timeout area and tell her to take as much time as she needs to calm down. Sometimes it's a minute, sometimes it's five, but she can leave timeout whenever she's ready.

She started timeouts at daycare when she was two and those timeouts are two minutes (1 minute for every year of age).

 

[monkeyprincess]

LC, E is looking so grown up these days and just as cute as can be as always. He always looks like he is thinking hard about something Good luck with the timeouts. At 17 months, I think Ev is still a bit too young to understand the concept of timeouts, but we're finding that he is doing things to deliberately disobey us lately. Like we tell him to not put something in his mouth, and he keeps doing it and looking at us like what are you going to do about it? Or you tell him to stop hitting or throwing things, and he goes crazy and does it repeatedly. DH sometimes just picks him up and sets him down in a corner, and then Ev starts bawling and immediately comes over for a hug or marches over to where he knows we store his pacifiers and starts saying "peas" (please) over and over again. I'm a sucker and usually give in, so not so effective on the discipline thing at our house.

Jfo, ahh, such cute pics of L. I love her little coats (so cute) and sunglasses. Love the "so pretty" thing with her hair ribbons. I too want to see a pic with her wearing a bow You'll have to let me know how she likes the kitchen. I have a couple of them in my Amazon wishlist for later. Maybe his 2nd birthday? Also, does she slide down the slide by herself? We took Ev to a playground and we were trying to get him to slide, but if we didn't hold on to him, he did something weird with his shoes, and he would start to get stuck or tip over.

amc, that's great that B's getting the hang of potty training and figuring out the balance bike!

JGator, great pictures. So funny that she likes to diaper her toys. Add us to the list of toothbrushing failures. He insists on grabbing it and then he just sucks the toothpaste off and refuses to let me do anything useful. I have tried using two brushes and giving him one to hold, but he fights me for the other one too. I know I need to work harder at it to get him used to it and try more often.

NEL, glad to hear you are having so much fun with K these days! I hope she is enjoying having her little sister around And so nice that the meltdowns are decreasing. Ahh, meltdowns, Ev has been having them about the most ridiculous things lately. It would actually be pretty funny if it weren't so frustrating in the moment!

AFU, DH and I went out to dinner alone for the first time in months this weekend, and it was nice to be able to have a good meal and focus on our conversation. We left Ev with my SIL and her kids, and he apparently was having so much fun and so distracted that he didn't notice we were gone for the first 45 minutes, but all of a sudden, he realized we were gone and pointed to the front door and started saying "oh uh, oh uh, oh uh" over and over until my sister in law had to hold him and put in a movie for him for the rest of the night. Hoping we can start going out like once a month or something without him because I think it is good for us and him. DH has been working on Ev with counting different objects for the past few weeks, and he can now count to ten. Oh, and you know how I was saying he was such a good eater? All of a sudden, he's not eating as much at mealtimes. He gets distracted and starts playing with his utensils or starts singing and decides he's done and wants to get "och" (which is apparently Everettese for off/out). He certainly isn't going to starve to death, but he's just not that into eating lately.

 

[lliang_chi]

Monkey, yes at 17 months I remember having the conversation with J and we both thought he was too young to get it. Ethan's a good bit older so I want to say he can do it. I'll have to talk to J about it soon.

NEL, thanks for chiming in. Yes we can usually distract Ethan with something else but this morning he had an EPIC time out. It was very frustrating. I wanted to do a timeout but then I figured we haven't been consistent so we'll have to talk it over and come up with a plan. I really like your system of letting her calm down and letting herself out of timeout.

Oh and I'm training Ethan to fall asleep without us in the room. I started this week doing the two tokens (he's got fake olympic medals from his birthday). If he can fall asleep without me in the room and has both tokens he gets to watch a The Might Be Giants DVD in the morning. If I need to come in, I take one medal away. If he only has 1 token in the AM, he gets oatmeal with apples and cinnamon in the AM. If I have to come in a 3rd time, he gets no medals and I stay in the room until he goes to sleep.

Oh and last thing, Ethan's out of the sleep sack now. He kept taking it and his clothes off when he was bored and "falling asleep". Last night he kept his clothes on though.

 

[FrekeChild]

NEL - How EI going?

LC - E is terribly cute, as always!

JGator - I laughed so hard at the diapers! LOVE THAT! It's super cute.

MP - I love going out without A, but we take her to a daycare place, and without fail, she always gets sick. So, it's never a "Do we want to get some free time?" but a "Can we deal with her being sick in 4-5 days?" I really wish we had family close by that we could rely on to watch her.

AMC - it's crazy how quickly they grow up, isn't it?


AFU:

We've been dealing with a sick kiddo, and as per usual, that's no fun.

A is trying to transition to no more naps, but still needs at least a little bit of shut eye - maybe an hour or so. Today she said, "Mommy, bed nap." So I took her into her room at 1:30, changed her training pants at 2:30 and she's finally asleep at 3. She kicked me out several times, with a, "Mommy, leave." and pointing to the door. Okie dokie then.

She's into the potty thing, but still not quite there yet. We have had a little potty for over a year now, and she's never used it, although she loves sitting on it. But I got her an Elmo step, and an Elmo toddler seat for a big toilet and she's much more into that idea. At this point, I'm in the "she won't have me changing diapers when she's 16, so let her be" stage.

Sometimes if she's cranky, my husband will just start showing her Youtube videos and she chills right out- Sesame Street ones are a big hit, especially these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py2f38iPBeI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc20vMz0V7Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgUnYzXU-Fo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvNCmb9a6Qc

She does so much random stuff. She imitates everything we say, and tries to do everything we do - which we use to our advantage, especially with teeth brushing and things like, talking her into trying new foods. "Look, Mommy does it too!"

She sings along to anything and everything she hears. She knows the ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and a bunch more. And of course she runs around, singing "Do you wanna build a snowman?" and "Let it Go" from Frozen. She also helps Daddy recite/read her favorite books, because they read together at night. It's amazing how many he has memorized from reading them over and over again.

She doesn't tantrum that much, but she started early. She knows pretty clearly that I'm not going to tolerate certain behaviors, and for the most part, she doesn't do them. Every once in a while she'll push my buttons, but she cries for a couple minutes, which I ignore and then comes over for a cuddle.

 

[mayerling]

Freke, she's already transitioning to no naps??? How old is she?

 

[FrekeChild]

Freke, she's already transitioning to no naps??? How old is she?

Next month she'll be 2.5. Apparently when I was 2, my mom cut me off from naps. If I took a nap, I'd be up until midnight. It didn't take long for her to get tired of that nonsense. She won't fall asleep until about 11pm if she takes an hour and a half nap during the day. If she doesn't take a nap, she's asleep by 9-9:30.

 

[amc80]

Hi all! It's been slow over here!

When did your kiddos start putting two words together? B doesn't do that at all, other than "oh no." A weekly developmental email I get said this: "Your child loves to help: "Me do it" and "By self!" are two of a toddler's favorite declarations." Yes, B loves to help, but no way he's anywhere near saying either of those things.

What he has started to do is jump. It is so cute and he is so proud of himself. He will stand in place and just jump over and over. Ah, to have his energy for one day!

 

[lliang_chi]

aMC, I think it took Ethan a while, until just past 2 to say stuff like "I did it!" Now he adds, "All by myself!" to the end. I'd not worry about B too much. I remember he was off the charts on the gross motor development, but his speech and fine motor took a little longer even when he was little. The fact that he's talking I think is a good sign. He might just take longer to string together sentences. Ethan's sentences don't really make sense. It's just nouns with a handful of verbs. "Dump truck and bulldozer and scoop and park and backhoe and dirt and no chair."

AFU: Ethan had a straight up poopy in the potty on Saturday, but unfortunately no repeat performances since. We're still staying the course though. Eventually he'll get it. Other than that we had some outdoor adventures when we had a break in the weather. Did his first egg hunt, but it was rather chaotic and he didn't get any eggs (all the big kids scooped them up). Oh well, fortunately he's at an age that he doesn't really care that much.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Freke, I can't believe how big A is getting! She looks like a little kid and not so much a toddler!

Amc, I'm no help with the speech question since my 26 month old says 4 words. But so cute with the jumping! K loves to jump and it's super cute.

LC, woohoo with the poopy success! And isn't the nicer weather so wonderful? It's cold again here, but we had a great weekend!

AFU, I'm getting frustrated with the lack of speech. We've only had 1 appt. with EI, next one is next week. K will try to repeat words, but with little success. I just feel that we're going to be working on her speech for at least a year or two since she's so delayed.

Otherwise she's good. She's getting sooo tall. And this weekend she was climbing up everything at the playground--she's so much more sure-footed than she was in the fall and it's odd to see her playing like a real kid.

I'm in a bit of a funk because she's just growing up so fast. And Cora, too. For the past decade I've had these very clear goals for myself--getting the dogs, getting married, getting a house, having the girls. Now I'm not sure what my next step will be. Obviously they will be my primary focus, but I feel like I'm in a weird place.

 

[monarch64]

Hey all, sorry I've been absent for awhile, have been busy busy!

Alex began daycare a few weeks ago and loves it. Found a great place nearby; we were all so comfortable and happy with it we cancelled the rest of our appointments and signed up the next day. She's only cried once when I've dropped her off, and as if that didn't make me feel terrible enough, I got in my car and that stupid song "Take Good Care of My Baby" from the 60's was playing. REALLY? Thanks, life soundtrack.

Hope everyone is well and that you all have a nice Easter weekend. I'm excited to see pics of bunnies/babies/baskets!

Daycare was closed today so we got ourselves gussied up and went out to take some spring pictures:

 

[Dandi]

Hi beautiful mamas!! I've been soooooo slack posting here, life just gets in the way of my PSing these days!! I just wanted to check in and let you know we are still here and all is well. Oscar is 16 months now, to my shock and amazement! Seriously, isn't he still a baby?! Actually we have had our first trip to the emergency department to glue his split open head back together, so yep, he's a toddler!

I still love popping in and seeing your gorgeous kiddos and reading about them growing and learning, it's just the best thing about parenthood for me. Oscar FINALLY started saying 'mumumumumum' last week, after months of calling me by my first name, which is hilarious, but I would prefer mum! My first name is Andrea, which for him comes out sounding something like 'Adjiyaaaah'. So cute. His more recent obsessions include eating grapes, sweeping the floor with a broom, and playing with saucepans.

Any tips for tooth brushing? Oscar will NOT let me near him with a toothbrush, so he sits with me while I brush my teeth, and he messes around with his own brush. More chewing than brushing, but I suppose at the very least, he is getting familiar with the idea.

He has recently transitioned to one nap a day, which was about 11am-2pm, and it has now abruptly changed to 1pm until about 2:30-3pm. I can't keep up! I try to not let him sleep past 3pm, because it negatively impacts on his 7pm bedtime, but oh how I hate to wake him! He keeps me guessing, the little monkey. All four first year molars came through at once in the last two weeks, so that may have something to do with it...?
Anyway, here are a few recent pics of our little man. It's good to be back!

 

[monarch64]

DandiAndi, he is precious! Those are great pics. Brushing teeth--Alex has always been great about it. She has a little step stool in front of the sink and likes to have the faucet turned on and to use one child-size toothbrush as well as one adult toothbrush, and she does a pretty good job herself. I come in at the end for a thorough brushing, which she isn't crazy about but tolerates. Have you tried toddler training "toothpaste?" Some yummy flavor might get him more excited about brushing.

 

[Dandi]

Thanks monarch! I actually haven't tried baby toothpaste, I was worried about starting it too early, so it's ok on 16 month old teeth? I'll give it a go, and great idea about a step for him to stand on to access the sink, thanks for the tips! And those pictures of your Alex are divine, what a little stunner!! She wears green so well, I am jealous!

 

[monarch64]

Thanks monarch! I actually haven't tried baby toothpaste, I was worried about starting it too early, so it's ok on 16 month old teeth? I'll give it a go, and great idea about a step for him to stand on to access the sink, thanks for the tips! And those pictures of your Alex are divine, what a little stunner!! She wears green so well, I am jealous!

Thank you for the kind words!
Here's a link to an all-natural toothpaste for kids made in Australia (I think you're down there, right?!):
http://www.jackandjillkids.com/product.php?prod=8&UID=21020a9f9ad788848753b519dba96ea1

It doesn't have fluoride in it--that's the concern with kids under 2, swallowing fluoride can be a big health risk as it's a neurotoxin.

 

[JGator]

AMC, how is B doing with the balance bike? How is potty training coming along? Post some new pictures of B! We haven't seen him in a while! AMC, I'm not sure if K puts 2 words together much. She did sound like she said "there you are" today, but i'm not sure. Most of the words that come out of K's mouth are not English! That's great that B is jumping!

Jfo, how is L doing? Love the picture of her in the shades and the story about the hair bows. K has a hair bow clip pretty much every day because her bangs are super long. She is pretty good about leaving it in.

LC, cute pictures of Ethan in Denver and in Chicago. How was it transitioning out of the sleep sack? Did you graduate to the ones with cutout feet? K is still in a traditional sleep sack. That's great that you have a reward system for sleeping too!

Nel, how are Katie and Cora doing? I can understand your being in funk wiht not knowing what your next goal should be. I'm sure your job and the girls will give you lots of challenges and things to look forward to.

MP, Yay for going out to dinner alone. We haven't done that yet. That's amazing that Ev can count to 10. We try to count our steps with K when she climbs upstairs, but it doesn't seem to be sinking in. Does Ev know his colors - K thinks everything is Blue. She has said Pink, but doesn't seem to know what it is.

Freke, that's great that A is gardening with you and knows so many songs! She sounds super smart! Love the pigtails as always!!!

Monnie, Alex is beautiful in her green dress! Love the smiles!!! I'm glad you found a great day care too! Lovee the painted toes!!!

Dandi, Oscar is too precious! Love his super blond hair! I have no tips other than what i do now. I brush while K is on her changing table. She cries and while crying I brush away! K is up to 9 teeth including 4 on top front, 2 bottom front, and 3 1st molars! There are a few gaps in there!

AFU, we got K a sand/water activity table. She loves it to death. The problem is she cries whenever she sees it! It's on our deck off our family room. She gets super messy too. We probably should not have put sand on one side as she moves the sand to the water side and it becomes muddy! We had a nice Easter - K participated in 3 Easter egg hunts. She is really into coloring and thinks all of her markers are Blue for some reason! I let her have my peanut butter chocolate egg yesterday and she was a big fan! Here are some recent pictures. My in-laws are coming next week for a month!!! We are going to take a 1 week vacation to the Outerbanks with them - it is a driving trip so hopefully we will all survive. It is less scary than thinking of flying with K again after our last experience!

 

[amc80]

Hi all! Thanks for the comments regarding stringing together two words. Of course, right after I posted about it he started saying "hi mama" and "hi dada."

Jgator- he loves his balance bike. He still hasn't figured out that he is supposed to glide (and balance) on it, but he loves walking around with it between his legs. Potty training is going well. For some reason he refuses to go at day care. They put him on the potty several times a day and he won't go. But he will have a dry diaper from his last change of the day there (around 5pm) until bath time (around 7). And with DH on Saturday, he said "peepee" and was put on the potty and actually went.

Here are some pictures from Easter. He had way too much sugar which resulted in a very cranky little boy. My fault, not his. We also did a little egg hunt in the back yard. I love the closeup because it shows how ridiculously long his eyelashes are.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, no repeat success with the poopy potty, but I remain hopeful. I'm glad K has started with the EI. There's a few other moms I know that have kids in EI for speech and it seems like it takes forever, forever, forever then BAM overnight it clicks. I'll stay hopeful for K. And FWIW, my mom said my brother never talked as a toddler either, but he turned out fine. Well, he's always been a man of few words. Best of luck with the continued therapy. Does the therapist say anything about using signs?

Monnie, love the pictures of your girl and love the cute little painted toddler toes. ADORABLE. I'm glad you guys found a daycare you're super happy with. Are you planning to start working again soon, is that why you put A into daycare? Or is it just a social skills sorta thing. How often is she going to daycare.

Dani, my oh my look at your handsome little blondie. Poor pumpkin and mama for the ER trip . Probably worse for you than O. Ethan *hates* it when I brush his teeth. I give him a few chances, but if he keeps putzing around, I just grab him and brush for him. He hates it, but stops crying shortly after I tell him "ALL DONE." I also had more success giving him his toothbrush in the bath. Then you have to deal with him dipping the toothbrush in the bath water (gross ) but whatever, as long as he's brushing his teeth I don't care. I also use toddler toothpaste. Ethan likes the Orajel one with Elmo on it. He calls it' "Elmo" instead of toothpaste. But so frustrating, Orajel doesn't make his "favorite" flavor in non-travel size. So when he sees the travel one he says, "I need Yellow Elmo". So I have to hide the travel one in his toiletry bag that's hidden in a drawer. He knows where to find it so I need to move it to the locked cabinet.

AMC, handsome man! Wow, he looks like he's a four year old! So funny that B's "overhearing" your conversations to us. Wasn't that what happened when you were worried he wasn't talking when he was like 11 months old? Glad he likes his balance bike. We don't have the space to run around with a balance bike, so we'll wait until Ethan's 3rd birthday to get him one. But we (or should I say DH) SO looking forward to when he gets all the "cool" toys.

JGator, I'm not help with tips for the sleep sack transition because Ethan chose to transition himself off it. He just decided he didn't want it anymore. (He did the same thing with the paci, he just decided he didn't want it) He'd just say, "No, no seep sack," when we try to put him in. We ask him each night, "Do you want sleep sack?" "No" He was 25 months or so I want to say. Love the pictures of K. How'd she like her egg hunt. Did she know what to do? Funny about the water table. Ethan's "water table" is our kitchen sink. Our sink overlooks the living room (we live in a condo), and our couch backs up against that half wall. Ethan climbs up the back of the couch, leans over the counter and turns on the sink. He picks up whatever plastic cup is around and fills it up and empties it. I've given up fighting it so I make sure he only turns the water on to a trickle instead of full blast and let him do whatever. His shirt ends up all wet but it at least contains the mess. And we don't have sand. Instead of sand for the other side of the table, can you fill it with pea gravel? That way you don't have to deal with mud, just rocks and water.

AFU: Well, I jinxed myself, and Ethan's getting up early again. Today was 5:45AM. I definitely think it's because it's getting bright so early, so I need to think of how to keep him asleep longer. Probably get one of those roller black out shades. I tried blackout liners but the curtains hang off the window so some light still gets through. I think those rollers would be a good way to get it BLACKED out so mama can get more sleep.
We tried to do an egg hunt hosted by the city park district. But it was chaos and all the older kids scooped up all the eggs. So Ethan didn't get any. Fortunately he's still young enough to not care, he was just happy to run around the playground. So we did a do-over this weekend, I ran outside and "hid" eggs on our dog-walking route and we had a family walk when we took Quizas out. Ethan was super fired up to find eggs.
Ethan is also going through a lack of eating dinner stage. It's annoying because I want him to eat dinner so he'll sleep longer. I think I'm guilty of giving him snacks etc just to get him out of my hair while I make dinner. What do you guys do if you need to make dinner for the kids and they're clamoring around because they're hungry but dinner is still 20 mins out?

 

[amc80]

AMC, handsome man! Wow, he looks like he's a four year old! So funny that B's "overhearing" your conversations to us. Wasn't that what happened when you were worried he wasn't talking when he was like 11 months old? Glad he likes his balance bike. We don't have the space to run around with a balance bike, so we'll wait until Ethan's 3rd birthday to get him one. But we (or should I say DH) SO looking forward to when he gets all the "cool" toys.

I know, he looks so much older than he is. It seems like he only looked like a baby for about six months. Yes, same thing as before! He wasn't babbling at all at his 9m appointment and I mentioned it on here and he started doing it shortly after. If only he would pay attention when I complain about his refusal to try new foods...

Regarding what to do with the kiddo when they are hungry before dinner- I give B fruit. He is obsessed with clementines and will eat 3-4 at a time. He recently started peeling them himself (if I start it). So I will give him one and he will stand over the garbage can and peel it. It takes a few minutes for him to peel it, so it kills some time. I will also ask him to take off his shoes and socks. It's a really long process because he takes one thing off at a time and then runs it to the shoe shelf next to the front door.

I'm loving all of these Easter pics!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, the speech therapist did say that signing would be helpful and also mentioned something like speech cues? We have another appt. this week and we'll talk more about it. I do hope that when she starts speaking she will catch up quickly. I always thought that would be the case since she understands so much, but I don't know. She'll say a few new words here and there (today she started saying duck), but it's not all happening at once.

I've no advice about the pre-dinner snack. When I'm working I'm rushing to get dinner on the table as soon as K gets home from daycare. While I'm on maternity leave I pick her up early, so sometimes when we get home she'll point to the pantry where I keep her snacks and sign for eat. I will give her one fruit snack and tell her that's it and she doesn't ask for more.

Oh, and K is waking up earlier, too. I know it's because it's getting brighter earlier. We have blackout cellular shades on her windows, but light leaks in from the sides. I should probably get curtains for the windows, too.

amc, what adorable pictures! He looks so much older and those eyes are beautiful! Sounds like potty training is going well and his speech is progressing as it should. Good idea having B peel his own clementines, I've never tried that. K also had too much candy this weekend and basically wanted nothing to do with food that didn't come out of an easter basket.

JGator, life with K and C is actually a lot of fun. K still dotes on C and wants her around all the time. It's super cute. Have a wonderful time in the outer banks! We went with K last fall when I was pregnant. It was a 12 hour drive or so for us and K did much better than I expected. We had a lot of fun! Tons of luck with the in-law visit!

Dandi, we do the same thing as Monnie. K stands on her foot stool in front of the mirror and seems to enjoy watching me brush her teeth. She'll say "Eeee" whle I brush her teeth. She's never loved it when I brush her teeth, so I'm always trying to find ways to get her to tolerate it. I used to sing her songs, but now she's over that.

Monnie, A is such a cutie in those pics! Love the painted piggies! Glad she loves daycare!

AFU, attaching our funny easter bunny photo. K is traumatized. C is perplexed by K's crying. K has been so much fun lately that I really hate taking her to daycare. I don't want to disrupt her routine too much, but I keep dropping off later and later and picking up earlier and earlier. Lots of firsts this weekend--first easter egg hunt (she was in a group of 0 - 3 year olds, so all the kids were slow to get the eggs), first hair cut, first toddler swimming class (she LOVED it).

 

[Dandi]

Thanks NEL, I'm keen to try the foot stool in front of the mirror trick now! Oh my goodness, that picture is an absolute classic! The look on C's face, hysterical! Your girls are just divine.

l_c, I actually tried toothpaste last night and Oscar loves it! Not a lot of brushing went on, more chewing and sucking, but hey, I figure so long as the brush is coming into contact with his teeth, it's probably doing something! Oh yes, the EMD trip was worse for me, he just waved to the other patients and staff, and blew them raspberries. Luckily the triage nurse was an old nursing collegue of mine, so she got us in and out in minutes. Win! I hear you on the dinner thing, Oscar seems to be a bit of a grazer these days, he won't eat much at a meal, but likes to eat frequently. Now he has breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, with a handful of kidney beans or chickpeas if he's giving me grief while I'm preparing dinner. Although I usually keep a stack of little meals for him in the freezer, so all I need to do is heat them up, and distract him while that happens.

Oh amc, THOSE EYES! Your little guy is one total heartbreaker, what a spunk!!!

JGator, I used to brush O's teeth on the change table (well brush/prod), and he has just started kicking me in the belly while I do it. Naughty monkey. So I had to give up on that, which is a shame because it was the only way I could pin him down! Woohoo, go K, 9 teeth! Oscar has 12, those first year molars where a bit of a doozy, I hope K's aren't giving her (or you!) any grief. I just love those gappy smiles.
Thank you so much for that link monarch, that's fantastic! I showed the girls in mother's group and they are most grateful! I think that company will do a roaring trade now!

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, LOL I love that Bunny picture. You've got to do the side by side comparison with the prior years. I'll have to check out the shade you're talking about. Aw, I can imagine how much fun it is o have K al day while you're on maternity. This age is just SO much fun I would stay home with him in a heartbeat. But then I know he can throw some pretty exhausting tantrums so having somewhere I can stash him for a few hours to give me a break would be WONDERFUL too. . Hooray for K's first haircut and first toddler swim class

Dandi, hm... I like your idea of having chickpeas or lentils on hand as a healthy alternative to snacking. I give him fruit or applesauce but I'd rather he gets some protein in him.

AMC, yes! Ethan loves clementines too. "Cuties are just for kids" is so true. No seeds and super easy to peel. Win-win. Hm good idea to tell Ethan to put his shoes away. Except we keep his shoes high up on a tall dresser so he wouldn't be able to reach them. Oh and he also always refuses to take his shoes off when we first get home. "Ethan, can Mommy take your shoes off?" NOOOOOOO!

I can't remember who was talking about colors and how their LO thinks everything's blue. Ethan was like that too. I also read an article on how color is actually a difficult concept for toddlers to learn. I read this article which is really interesting perspective on why learning colors is difficult. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-johnny-name-colors/..
So maybe try describing colors at the end of a sentence, "The fire truck that's red" rather than "The red fire truck." Because toddlers will hear FIRE TRUCK first & know what to look at. Then hear RED and realize it's a modifier of the FIRE TRUCK. Ethan is pretty good with his colors, but I try to do this half the time when he's struggling with color. I also ask him to tell me what color something is when he's whining "I want that one. I want that one." Which one, Ethan? What color is it?

 

[monkeyprincess]

Hi ladies, such adorable Easter pics of your babes!

LC, you sound like such a good intuitive mommy, and Ethan sounds like such a sweetheart! Hoping the eating improves soon, and that he gets more consistent with the potty training. He's so close, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

NEL, that picture is awesome (although I'm sure K doesn't see it that way)! I didn't even attempt a bunny picture given Ev's current stage 4 clinger status and reaction to Santa. Glad to hear you are having so much fun with K these days, and it's nice that you are able to get to see her a bit more, but she can still keep her routine and give you one on one time with C.

amc, darling pictures of your little guy. I agree that he is very mature looking for 20-ish months! And glad to hear he started stringing a couple words together. Ev will say a few phrases like "I love you,"I got you," or "all done" and a few more if prompted, but not that many. He can sing about 4-5 songs, but I don't know if that counts as stringing words because he's just memorizing. But his verbal skills have always been more advanced than his motor skills. B is totally the opposite!

Dandi, darling pics of your little blondie. He's getting so big. I agree with the others on the teeth brushing. Ev loves putting his brush in his mouth and chewing on it, but if i want to get any real brushing done, he's not thrilled. It's a start, right? And did you say he takes three hour naps? Wow, we are lucky if Ev sleeps any more than an hour.

JGator, darling pictures. I love her expression in the one with the chocolate! Ev doesn't know his colors either. He will repeat them if we say them, but that's about it at this point. He is getting much better about knowing body parts and animals/animal sounds.

Monarch, love A's green dress and ribbon. She's a beauty! Daycare drop offs are hard!

AFU, I think we have entered the terrible twos at 18 months. Seriously, pretty much to the day of turning 18 months, he seemsto have learned the power of the word "no," and he is exercising it frequently. He is also fighting us a bit on clothing/diaper changes and getting in and out of the car, high chair or stroller, going inside after being outside, and daycare hand-offs, whereas before he was super compliant. All of this coincided with a change into the older toddler room at daycare, a sleep strike (refusing to go to sleep until after 10 pm on three nights this past week), and a visit from my family last weekend, so I think the poor little guy was just sleep deprived and out of sorts. And after all that complaining, I must say, he is also becoming even more fun these days and just amazes us with how much he is learning and changing. And oh my gosh, he will repeat anything and everything these days, which is hilarious and scary at the same time. He kept my entire family entertained with his book "reading," singing songs and incredible amount of energy.

 

[Mannequin]

I haven't been around in ages, but have been keeping up with some of the PS mamas elsewhere. Good to see you all!

My little man Weston turned 2 last month. In typical little boy fashion, he is obsessed with cars, trucks, and things that GO. He was almost 3 feet tall and almost 31 lbs. at his last well check - a very happy, healthy boy overall. Some days it is a miracle when we both make it to nap time alive because he is two, after all. He does really well at daycare in his toddler room and is learning so much. I am looking forward to spending summer vacation with him.

In September, baby #2 will be joining the family. I am about 20 weeks along with this pregnancy, carrying a little boy we have named Logan. We are very excited to meet him in a few months. I am anxious about the transition to two under three, especially tackling double mommyhood while working full time as a teacher, but I know we will all find our way as we go and strike a balance.

I've added a photo from Christmas 2013. Enjoy! Hoping to pop in here more after the school year winds down - see you soon!

 

[Dandi]

Great to see you Mannequin, you're looking as gorgeous as ever! Your little man is SO cute. And huge congrats on your pregnancy, I hope you are well!

 

[mlk]

Hi ladies, its been such a long time since I posted but have been reading along where possible. I am loving all the pictures of the beautiful PS toddlers, keep them coming!

We are doing well, we have been overseas a few times the last couple of months and things have been pretty crazy with DH away separately also so have been really struggling with posting.

Lucas is now a crazy toddler, 17 months next week (15 corrected), climbing everything and giving me so many grey hairs! I cannot leave him alone for a second without a fear of what he will get into or climb on. I am really starting to realize how unsuitable our house is for a toddler even though we have completely baby proofed it.

We are having a lot of difficulties with eating and have been seeing a dietitian with the hospital but we are not really making much progress. Finger food is basically just a nibble and it is thrown on the floor and he will only eat smooth purees, any lumps will get spat back out. The only food I can guarantee he will eat is soy yoghurt which I am not that keen on. He has fallen off the growth charts, despite him only ever being in the 5th centile anyway and his height has slowed right down. No words yet either, doesn't even say mama or dada discriminate lay although he does randomly babble. We see the paed again in July but will probably need to look into some sort of speech or occupational therapy for his food (and possibly speech) issues.

Otherwise he is a delightful little man who is so full of personality. Here are some pics. I will try to keep more on top of posting now that things have settled down!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Milk, L is a cutie pie! K recently started speech therapy because she is a late talker. L is still very young, so I wouldn't expect too many words at this point, but when we were doing Ks evaluation, they asked a lot of questions about Ks eating. Apparently the muscles in the mouth and tongue used for eating are the same that are used for speaking, so issues with food and speech can go hand in hand. Obviously that's not always the case--my friend whose daughter wouldn't eat anything until she was 2 talks up a storm and my kid never had issues with eating, but won't say a peep at 26 months. I just wanted to share what I learned through the process. Maybe something you could ask his doc at your next appt.

 

[mlk]

Hi NEL, thanks on chiming in with your experiences with K. I have also heard about speech and eating problems being linked, although I do agree that it's probably a little early to be worrying about his speech but his lack of eating is something that I would love to get looked into. I am seeing the dietitian at the hospital next week so hopefully she may be able to steer me in the right direction with a referral. I hope EI is going well for K and you are enjoying your two lovely ladies!

 

[amc80]

Toddlers are rough! No need to elaborate on that point, I'm sure you all understand. Ha.

So, B is fascinated when DH pees. As soon as he realizes that DH is in the bathroom, he runs in there and watches. Well, the other night in the bath, B stood up and said "peepee." He then grabbed himself and peed standing up, holding on to it. He was SO thrilled with himself. He must see that that's how DH does it and now he can be like daddy. He only peed a little bit but I kept encouraging him by saying "is there any more peepee?" and he would get this serious look on his face and squeeze a little more out. I'm tempted to let him try it in his potty but can only imagine the sort of mess that will result. But maybe it's worth a try if it gets him excited.

I need some bed advice. B is just way too big for his crib. He hits his limbs on the sides all night long and it wakes him up. We are moving next weekend and are thinking of just moving him into a toddler bed at that time. Do you think that's too much change at once? He will still have his same blankets and stuffed animals and stuff.

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC, Ethan pees standing. He doesn't hold his penis, just stands there and points. TBH, the toilet is pretty big and he'll *really* have to try to make a mess. The biggest mess comes from him dribbling on the front lip of the toilet bowl, but Ethan loves wiping things up, so we let him wipe up his pee (win!). My suggestion to minimize mess is to get a step stool that's not *that* high off the ground so B won't be high enough to miss the back/top of the bowl. We use this from IKEA http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60248418/ and it's a good height for Ethan to stand and pee. THe downside it's not tall enough to help him sit up on the toilet seat on his own.
Re: bed advice, hm, TBH I'd let B sleep in his crib for another 2 wks after the move to get him adjusted. Is there anyway his crib converts to toddler bed? But you know him best, if he's OK with changes then I'd say, no worries. Maybe when you move, keep his crib and put the toddler bed in there also. So he's used to seeing the toddler bed in his room. He can start with naps in toddler bed and then move to night time sleeps. The downside with switching to the bed is that he can get out. I'm planning on keeping Ethan in his crib until he escapes. He's pretty close to it, every now and then he'll try to toss his leg over the rail.

MLK, L is adorable! I can't believe he's getting so big. I hope the OT and ST can help with his speaking and eating. Some of my other friends had kiddos that would not eat regular table food well past 12M so don't feel like your'e alone. Keep offering and just expect there will be a lot of clean up as he's getting used to it. Ethan didn't speak much by his 15M appointment, but by his 18M appt he was saying words. It was literally an overnight word explosion. I hope L will be the same way. But good for you for getting outside help just to make sure he's good.

NEL, How's K's speech therapy going? I've been stalking you on the newborn thread too, I'm glad K & C are getting along so great AND you're getting good sleep. Lucky ducky, you. When will you be returning to work?

AFU: Ethan's doing great. He got a haircut this week I stayed home with him after a doctor's appointment. He had mild double ear infections. He was OK but DH sounded like he wanted to keep him at home, so I stayed with him. It was fun to have Mommy & E-Bear time, so I can't complain. He's doing swell, though the past few days have been opinionated about getting dressed for school. Today he went in jammies. I figure, whatever, it's Friday. We had a total of 3 poops in the potty but otherwise he's still figuring it out. At least I *know* he knows what to do, so we're just waiting him out. We had some fun adventures the past few weekends, the zoo, swimming. This weekend we're going to meet up with friends and hit a petting zoo, and Sunday we'll hang out with his "cousin" Jack and "Aunt" (family friends) whose b-days were a few weeks ago.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Amc, no advice on the peeing issue, but good luck! I can understand the crib issue, though. K is over 37 inches now, so I keep thinking the crib is going to get uncomfortable. I'm usually really sensitive to not introducing too many transitions at once, but I feel like the new house and new bed could go hand in hand. He might even get excited if you talk about his new big boy bed in the new house. I like LCs idea of having both. I'm planning to go that route--leave the crib in Ks room and set up the toddler bed, then let her choose where she wants to sleep. K loves choosing things for herself, which I know is typical for toddlers, so maybe that would make the transition easier since he'd feel he had a choice.

LC, poor E and the ear infections. Sounds like he's doing well, though. Does he love the pool? K has swimming lessons on Saturday mornings and I can't get her out of the pool. How was the zoo? We're going after swimming tomorrow and I think K is going to love it. She liked it last year, but I think she'll like it even more since she's older.

EI is slow going. The therapist isn't sure what's going on since K won't say a peep in her sessions (can't see how K is using her tongue). I've been reading books about late-speaking children, which makes me feel better and worse at the same time. Better because I know that it's not uncommon--K definitely fits the description of a typical late talker (observant, analytical, reserved, shy, great memory, musically-inclined, etc.), but many of the kids in the studies I've read did not speak at a "normal" level until they were 5 or older. That makes me a little sad since I'd love to know Ks thoughts. What's interesting is that the late talkers in the studies started talking around the same time regardless of whether they had speech therapy or not. Apparently the biggest booster in language development was that the kids felt secure, loved and confident. So I just make up little games that make it fun for her to talk. Or I'll record her saying words she's good at and let her watch herself talking--she likes that. And when she's feeling confident, she's more likely to repeat what I say. Anyway, these aren't EI exercises, but I don't think EI hurts. Sorry for the long reply!

I also follow you on the TTC threads. You've been through so much in the past few months, but I'm very, very confident that you will have a sticky bean soon and this chapter will be behind you. I'm rooting for you as hard as I can.

Oh, and I'm returning to work in 2 weeks I thought it would be easier this time since I've gone through it before. I was fine until this week and now I'm really sad about going back.i asked for two weeks of unpaid leave so I could stay home until June, but my replacement is leaving this week and they need me, so were trying to work something out where I can work from home part time for a couple of weeks. I'm home with both girls for a few weeks (babysitter is on vacation) and we're actually having a lot of fun. I do feel super duper lucky to have such an easy baby and such a sweetheart for a toddler.