PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[JGator]

AMC, B is so cute in his shark outfit! Love it!!! Growing up! That's great that he pedals the trike. K can't reach her pedals yet.

Freke, put your shoes/socks up on ebay! I recently bought 2 pairs of really nice Umis for a steal on ebay. The only multivitamin I could find with iron in it is http://www.amazon.com/Flintstones-Childrens-Multivitamin-Chewable-60-Count/dp/B000GG6CZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415310541&sr=8-1&keywords=flintstones+with+iron The dosage is 1/2 a pill for 2 year olds and 3-year olds. She really likes it and wants to eat more whenever she gets her 1/2 pill.

Dandi, Oscar is such a cutie. He must have a great sense of humor with that pail on his head! I can't believe he's almost 2!

AFM, here is K in her cowgirl Halloween outfit. She went to pre-school all day today by herself as I only volunteer once a month. The nanny dropped her off and picked her up. She did not cry on drop off as she was too into the toys, and she didn't want to leave at the end of the morning. The teacher said she followed instructions and didn't cry once all day! We could not believe it. Hopefully, this will continue next week.

 

[monkeyprincess]

I haven't checked this thread in a bit.

Cute Halloween pictures, amc and JGator! Ev was Pooh Bear, and he was just so proud to wear his costume. We were going to have him trick-or-treat on just the 5 other houses on our terrace, but then he saw all the other kids going further into the neighborhood and insisted on following them. So DH took him for nearly 45 minutes. He kept asking for Halloween or Bucket (which was code for candy) the next few days, and we let him have a few things like fruit snacks. But being the wonderful mother I am, I went on a binge and ate most of his candy!

JGator, sounds like K is doing awesome! You must be so proud of her for how she handled school! Interesting about the iron. I think Ev had his levels checked once, and they were fine, but they haven't done it since. He has a hearty appetite though, so I assume he probably gets enough from his diet.

amc, sorry to hear you're dealing with another sleep regression. We've had a bit of that lately too. But come to think of it, he is really eating a lot again, so I suspect another growth spurt.

Dandi, O is getting so big. I haven't seen a picture of him in a long time! What is it with toddlers and turning everything into a hat? I have so many similar pictures of Ev! Love it.

Freke, I followed your advice and tried the gummy vitamins. I have no idea why, but Ev calls them worms. The texture maybe??? Anyway, the minute he gets home from daycare in the evening, he marches up to the cabinet where they are stored and demands a worm. A sounds like such a cutie and very entertaining!

AFU, things are going well. Funny story, Ev changed rooms at daycare, and due to a miscommunication with the new teacher I guess, we had no idea that they had started working on potty training with him. I guess his best buddy is trained, so Ev got interested. The daily sheets from his new room at school had lines for: BM, Wet, and Potty. It took me a week to catch on to that, and then I noticed they were noting he was using the potty about twice a day and sometimes #1 and #2. I asked him about it, and he was kind of evasive and said "no" and then started singing the song from his Elmo Potty Time movie, "You'll do it. You'll use the potty." (He has an embarassing habit of singing that song in public). Turns out he has been doing really well with it at school and tells them sometimes when he needs to go. He certainly doesn't do that at home, the little stinker! We ordered the same toilet seat and stool they use at daycare, and we are going to start reinforcing it at home. But heck, if the daycare wants to potty train my kid for me, I'm all for it!

 

[Dandi]

Thanks for your advice re. the vitamins ladies, I started Oscar on a liquid multi-vitamin with iron (Pentavite) and he just loves it! He's totally hooked on it and looks very forward to his daily 'special medi'! I started him on it primarily because his veggie intake has been pretty poor of late, and his meat intake is ok but not great. Dinner usally just ends up all over the floor. Well blow me down, in the last week he has just about cleared his plate at dinner time. Steamed carrot, peas...stuff he has ALWAYS refuses, and oh my goodness, he has discovered corn on the cob and LOVES it! So much so that DH and I don't get to eat ours because he raids our plates for our corn cobs and mows them down.

When we have spaghetti bolognese I just give him a bowl of the meat and veggie sauce because he won't eat pasta. Tonight we has spaghetti and he pleaded for some of my pasta...so I added some pasta to his meat sauce and he scoffed the lot, just like that. No trying to get him to eat etc etc, he just ate! The kid never ceases to amaze me.

So the poor old multi-vitamin is probably a tad obselete at the moment, but I suppose it can't hurt.

DH came home from the US today, and Oscar was shaking with sheer joy when he saw him. He wrapped himself around his dadda and refused to let go for ages, and would occasionally lift his head just to smile at DH, then bury his face into DH's shoulder again. It just about made my heart explode

Awwwwww!!!! amc and JGator, adorable pics of your beautiful little ones!!

Haha mp, I'd be all over someone else toilet training for me too!

Oscar and I were out shopping and he decided that lying in the middle of the plaza pretending to be asleep was a good idea. He squeezed his little eyes shut as tight as he could, and even started making a snoring noise. The kid just cracks me up, I can barely believe he'll be 2 in less than a month.

 

[monarch64]

Awwww, Oscar is so cute pretending to sleep!!! That picture made me smile, Dandi!

 

[Loves Vintage]

I have no idea why, but Ev calls them worms.

Hmm, I wonder if they have had gummy worms at daycare for craft activities maybe? You will have to ask!! S called those vitamins gummies, I think? Some kid at her school must have gummy candies? She only had a few of those, and then we decided to only do vitamin d drops.

Potty Training at daycare is awesome. S learned very early there too.

DA - That is one super-cute kiddo you have there! Kids are so much fun!!!

 

[Dandi]

Aw, so lovely, thanks ladies He is an endless source of amusement I must say. Isn't it a funny age?? I've been told to watch out for the horrors of turning three...

 

[FrekeChild]

Well we're only 10 days away from three, but I'm finding it to be so much better than two, honestly. I can talk to her and she can talk back. If she wakes up sobbing in the middle of the night, she can say, "I'm scared of the dark." or "My diaper is wet." or "I'm scared of monsters!" Or if she gets upset during the day she I will ask her what is wrong, what can I do to fix it, and we talk it out. If she does something dangerous, I will explain why I'm upset with her, but that I still love her, and that what she did was very scary for me. Honestly, two was really difficult for me because they want so much to be independent, but they don't have any real communication skills yet. Now that she can talk, I feel so much better about life in general. Hah! But I'll come back and let you know if it's awful!

The other day I took her with me to Ulta (I promised her a treat and she picked nail polish) and we were walking around in the middle of the store, and suddenly she starts saying really loudly, "Mommy, I have a vagina, and I have an anus and boys have penises!" I looked at her very seriously and said, "You're right! You're super smart!" and then looked up and realized that most toddlers probably don't say stuff like that. She's totally going to be the little kid at preschool teaching all of the other little kids about their sex organs. I wish I could be excited about it, but I'm mostly irritated that she'll probably get chastised for it.

 

[Dandi]

OMG Freke that's hilarious!! Little lady really knows her stuff!

 

[monkeyprincess]

LV, that's a good question. I guess it's possible he's heard of a gummy worm, although I can't imagine they would've given him one at daycare, as they are very careful about what snacks/treats they give the kids (my SIL owns/directs the place, and she is very strict about that stuff). BTW, I keep ours in a locked cabinet because he likes them way too much! I agree the potty training and peer pressure in general is a great perk of daycare.

Dandi, ha ha, what a little monkey! Ev pretends to sleep sometimes when we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do. He'll just drop down and squeeze his eyes. Nice try, weirdo. And that's so cute how excited he was too see his daddy. Nothing sweeter than seeing your DH cuddle with your little one.

Freke, you'll have to stick around even after she turns three. And wow, she is very precise on her anatomy terms. Impressive So many fun things in store with these little ones.

 

[amc80]

Anyone want to help me with a sleep issue? This happens almost every night and it's getting old.

B gets a sippy at bed time with milk. He generally goes right to sleep. Somewhere in the 1am-3am range, he wakes up and stands at his door (which is gated). He either asks to come into our bed or he asks for more milk. If he asks to come into our bed, I'll usually offer him milk instead, and that gets him to lay back down in his bed (maybe 4oz or so, with another couple oz of water). But, that only lasts 20-30 minutes, until (presumably) he's done with his milk. Then, he wants to come into our bed, and I usually give in (because at that time of the night, getting back into bed is my only priority). So he lays down in our bed and thrashes around, asks questions, perhaps sings a song. This goes on for 30 minutes or so, until I tell him he's going back to his bed. I put him back in his bed (which may or may not require another milk bribe) and he sleeps until morning. The side effect of this is that if I don't change his diaper during the night, he will wake up soaking wet.

This means I'm up for at least an hour during the middle of the night, and it's really wearing on me. I know we've obviously created some bad habits for the sake of convenience. This started maybe 4-6 weeks ago. He HAS been teething during this time (one 2 year molar popped up a few weeks ago, another is popping up right now) so I don't know if the milk is more of a need to suck or what.

Any suggestions?

 

[JGator]

AMC, I am by no means a sleep expert and really have no business giving anyone advice, but I would suggest stopping the milk and/stopping letting him into your bed - maybe phase it in/out somehow. You could replace the milk with water. I remember my BFF once commenting about my sister's kids waking up in the middle of the night and she said, "if someone would get me a snack at night, I would get up too!" So, basically stop the incentives for waking up.

Freke, yes, stay on this thread. Maybe we can change it to the 12+ month thread? You really have a smart girl there! Adorably smart!

MP, too funny about the worms. K loves her Flintstone vitamins and always wants more. She does not understand at all that she can only have 1/2 of a pill a day. Awesome about potty training too.

Dandi, Oscar is so cute!!! I love the picture. It's precious beyond words.

AFU, K used the potty twice yesterday for #2. She has never peed in the potty so this is interesting. I think it's just a fluke. Also, we are trying to sleep train her for naps. It went well one day, but has gone horribly the rest of the time. She cries for an hour or longer. I don't know what to do. Our nanny had it all worked out, but I thought it was a little much to move her crib mattress to the floor mid nap every day and stay in the room with her. But, she at least slept. I posted online a few places, and everyone says, it's too late she's 2. Give up on the naps. But she does need them. My alternative is to hold her for the whole nap on weekends which is getting old. So, like I said, AMC, I am not a good role model! But, K does sleep at night and when she does cry, I ignore her and she goes back to sleep.

 

[amc80]

I think I have a plan in place, I know it will be a few rough nights but it will be worth it if he goes back to STTN. I will still give him his milk at bed time (but I'll go back to making it half water, which I used to do...). If he wakes up in the middle of the night I'll give him water and not let him out of his room. You're right, JGator, if someone got me snacks I'd wake up happily.

 

[lliang_chi]

Jgator & AMC, I'm by no means a sleep expert or role model either, but I found bribes TOTALLY WORKED with Ethan at this age. I'm a mean Mom and held Ethan's morning DVD watching hostage unless he slept through the night. I had to do that for like 4 wks, then it got a lot better. Literally told him, "Ethan, if you want to watch Teacher tomorrow morning, you need to sleep through the night. If you wake up and don't go back to sleep then you don't get Teacher." The DVD is a They Might Be Giants song DVD about science. It's actually pretty good except when you watch it every day at breakfast.

 

[amc80]

Jgator & AMC, I'm by no means a sleep expert or role model either, but I found bribes TOTALLY WORKED with Ethan at this age. I'm a mean Mom and held Ethan's morning DVD watching hostage unless he slept through the night. I had to do that for like 4 wks, then it got a lot better. Literally told him, "Ethan, if you want to watch Teacher tomorrow morning, you need to sleep through the night. If you wake up and don't go back to sleep then you don't get Teacher." The DVD is a They Might Be Giants song DVD about science. It's actually pretty good except when you watch it every day at breakfast.

I could try that! He loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins ("rocket"). I'm not sure if he understands the concept of "tomorrow" or "morning" though. That would be my only hesitation. Definitely worth a try.

 

[lliang_chi]

AMC, I'm sure he gets it. We started bribing Ethan when he *just* turned 2, and he totally understood that if he slept the whole night, he could have Teacher. Oh before I would go in, I'd ask him, "Do you want mama to come in, or do you want Teacher in the morning? If you want Teacher you have to go back to sleep. Do you want Teacher?"

 

[amc80]

AMC, I'm sure he gets it. We started bribing Ethan when he *just* turned 2, and he totally understood that if he slept the whole night, he could have Teacher. Oh before I would go in, I'd ask him, "Do you want mama to come in, or do you want Teacher in the morning? If you want Teacher you have to go back to sleep. Do you want Teacher?"

Ok, I will try that. I'm all for bribery. Whatever works, right?

 

[monkeyprincess]

LC, it sounds to me like your E has really good impulse control for a two year old. We've never tried bribing Ev for something too far in the future. It's more like if you eat more of ___, you can have some ___ afterward. Or if you let mommy take off your pajama top and put a real shirt on for school, you can watch a video before school. I'll have to try your method out though to see if he would go for it.

amc, I agree with the others, and I hope you are able to break him of the habit. I'm sure it gets a lot trickier once they're out of the crib. And I'm not looking forward to that.

JGator, Ev has never napped in his crib. He sleeps in/on a sleeping bag, which is exactly what he does at daycare. We'll sit with him until he falls asleep, but he will then sleep 1-1.5 hours on his own.

 

[lliang_chi]

Oh MP, we DEFINITELY bribe Ethan for immediate stuff too? "You want some juice? You have to eat a piece of chicken first." I think what I kept doing is reminding him of what he wanted, Teacher, and didn't mention what I didn't want to do, going into his room. So it wasn't, "Do you want Mommy to sit with you?" It was, "Do you want Teacher? If you want Teacher you need to go back to sleep."

 

[monarch64]

Jgator & AMC, I'm by no means a sleep expert or role model either, but I found bribes TOTALLY WORKED with Ethan at this age. I'm a mean Mom and held Ethan's morning DVD watching hostage unless he slept through the night. I had to do that for like 4 wks, then it got a lot better. Literally told him, "Ethan, if you want to watch Teacher tomorrow morning, you need to sleep through the night. If you wake up and don't go back to sleep then you don't get Teacher." The DVD is a They Might Be Giants song DVD about science. It's actually pretty good except when you watch it every day at breakfast.

Mine was "if you lay your head down and go to sleep, I'll give you a SPECIAL SURPRISE in the morning!" (Turns out special surprises don't exist unless you count breakfast and Daniel Tiger, but fortunately this promise was forgotten by morning so I still recommend.) Recently this has changed to reverse psychology: "Alex, whatever you do, DON'T go to sleep." She has found and embraced her independence, so her answer to everything is "no," or "No, Alex do it. I do it all by myself." This is awesome, but 50% of the time she's saying no to things just to be contrary. Any suggestion that is made, such as taking a bath, is met with "no, I want to play." So if I say, "you can't take a bath tonight," she starts running towards the bathroom yelling "I want to take a bath, mommy!" And on and on. It's kind of hilarious.

Here are some pics from this week. She is thrilled whenever anything has pockets. And she hated the boots until I told her she couldn't wear them.

 

[FrekeChild]

She also knows "boobies" and sometimes has a penchant for pulling my shirts down in public. That's why carts are no longer a part of our shopping trips. But that's not to mention her own shirts up or down.

BRIBES. OMG. I can talk her into anything now. Hahahahah!!!! You want to go to the park? Put away your toys first. You want to watch Paw Patrol? Eat your apples first. You can have a sticker for your sticker board if you pee in the potty.

Sleep problems suck dude. I am so glad that we got A a full size bed, if she wakes up, one of us will go sleep with her, so everyone can get some sleep. I feel for you.

 

[amc80]

Just to update- last night went better than I expected. He woke up twice, sort of a fake cry, and went back to sleep within 2-3 minutes. The third time he woke up was a real cry and he was standing at his door, removing the baby gate. I went into his room and laid down in his bed, which made him freak out. He laid down and asked me to sing him a couple of songs, then went back to sleep. I did offer him water and he said he didn't want it and threw it on the floor. But all night with no extra milk and not in our bed, I consider it a win.

I tried to bribe him and he was having none of it. "if you lay back down we can go to the park tomorrow." "NO PARK." So yeah taking over his bed was the perfect strategy.

 

[Dandi]

Fantastic amc, sounds like you and B are getting back on track with his sleep. I feel for you lovey, sleep issues are just so hard. And they are so random. The other night O woke up twice talking to himself, spouting out heaps of new words. Then he got upset and started crying because he wanted to be asleep, and when I went into him he said 'NO!' and pointed to the door wanting me to leave, and just keep jabbering away to himself for the next hour. I had to turn the volume on the monitor right down. What the?!

Definitely a win for you! Hope it is resolved very quickly and you all get a full night's sleep again soon.

 

[amc80]

Well, things are sort of staying the same. He's still getting up once per night and I can usually get him back to sleep within 10-15 minutes. Last night he was up for an hour. But hopefully it was just an off night.

I finally got around to taking pics for our Christmas cards. B was not thrilled and was far more interested in the park that was nearby, but I managed to get a few good ones.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Love the pictures of B! So sorry about the sleep regression issues. I have yet to figure out what makes toddlers tick. Luckily I've not really had any sleep issues with K, but occasionally she'll have a bad dream or something will wake her up and she'll call for me. When I come in, I tuck her back in and tell her I'm not coming back until morning. She seems okay with that--I can see her sitting up/rolling around in the monitor until she goes back to sleep. But she doesn't call for me again. Every night when we leave her room I say "Love you! See you in the morning!" A couple of weeks ago Cora had the flu and woke up crying. I guess Katie could hear her and I heard Katie call out to Cora "Mama come in morning!"

I feel like I never have the time to come here and give a proper post. I love following everybody's updates, though. I can't believe how big everybody's kids are getting!

Attaching a picture from our Christmas card photo shoot. As usual, Katie was shy and didn't crack a smile.

 

[amc80]

NEL- That is hilarious! How freaking cute. And I love that picture! She looks like she's in a Ralph Lauren ad.

 

[FrekeChild]

...and then she was three.

Hi NEL!

What gorgeous pictures of all of your "babies"!

It seems like just yesterday I was joining in with the pregnancy threads, and today I woke up to a three year old (going on 16!) with attitude that won't quit. It has been a long day, she's finally passed out in bed, and I think it's time to veg the hell out. I really wish I had some wine around here....

 

[amc80]

Why are toddlers so weird?

 

[amc80]

Duplicate post

 

[Dandi]

Oh snap amc, haha!

I'm pretty impressed with B's core strength, plus his ability to multitask!

 

[amc80]

Nice! See, toddlers are weird! B has visible abs. Maybe it's all the planking?