PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[jas]

Tacori -- we''re all rooting for you!

 

[ChinaCat]

Good luck Tacori!

 

[sasa]

Good Luck Tacori!!

 

[snlee]

Tacori, good luck! We''re all rooting for you!!!

puffy, sorry to hear your boys are sick. I hope they both feel better soon!

QT, I hear you on boy clothes. Baby boy clothes I didn''t have a problem finding cute ones. But for toddler clothes, I don''t love that most of them have to do with sports with numbers, stuff like that. Just NOT cute! I would totally swap clothes with you if I have a girl. Meena''s clothes are SO cute!!! Too bad we don''t live closer to one another.

 

[janinegirly]

DD: very mysterious of you--I thought maybe a toddler mommy had some juicy story to share

QT & Snlee: hope you find some cute boy clothes, how about Crew Cuts or Polo? I know it''s pricey but super cute. I always thought if I had a little boy I''d dress him in some prepped out clothes. I have admit that having a toddler girl though is really dangerous, just too many cute clothes, sun dresses, matching hats, headbands, socks shoes

---all of which get worn minimally since they grow so fast, but it''s hard to not develop a shopping addiction! I''ve lost interest in adult clothes!

Tacori: catch us up soon, you have alot of PS dust in the air!

Burk: happy belated b''day!

 

[mrssalvo]

thinking of you tacori! best of luck...


re: boy clothes: I love lucky kid for toddler boy stuff. i do find some things at Gap, polo, gymboree etc. but I usually have to hunt a few places.

 

[TravelingGal]

Popping in to say good luck Tacori!

 

[puffy]

RE boy clothes...B has tons of junk feed tees from gap, polo and lacoste stuff, disney stuff, like cars, mickey mouse, toy story, and sesame street clothes. there are tons of cute boy clothes that don''t have to do with sports. but i also LOVE girl clothes...way too cute!

better take a nap while the boys are napping. it was a tiring night!!

 

[jas]

Forgive the typos, I''m multitasking (cupcakes and regular cake in process)

SBDE -- You are sweet. I will let you know if a book comes out and somehow get you all a free copy. I wish I had advice about play dates...I probably need to set some up myself. I love the no-no-no tantrum. The head shaking is soooo serious, no?
Tacori -- Close your eyes! *jas goes off to pot a plant* Hee! Can''t wait to hear how today went!
Lili -- yes, two monkeys, but really much more behaved than I let on here (despite what I am about to share below)
Mrss -- good luck with the house full o'' IL!
DD -- I''m glad you revealed yourself again! I hate that the tech people took the name "cookie" for something that can be so troublesome.
Jas -- hooray on the midwife and Co''s manners...dare I ask how he is showing his potty disdain?
MG -- have fun!
Puffy -- oh no! Take care of your LO and hang in there!

Not too much to report. The boys are loving going outside and jumping in puddles. Fortunately, they are staying out of the snow -- I never got them boots. Me, lil'' Miss Shoe Hound and my boys have no boots. To be fair, when outside, they''ve always either been in areas they can wear other shoes or they''ve been in the stroller.

I''m nervous because I have one of those "obligation" lunches on Monday...two people who I used to work with who, when I left, never kept in touch with me, despite many attempts at my part. Now that I moved closer to where they work (and they heard it through the grapevine) they are all, "Oh we never met your babies and we miss you and lets have lunch" so I''m having lunch with them and the boys. I realized I''ve never taken both to a restaurant without DH before and I''m a bit nervous. I am reading the "high spirited" child thread and of course will have lots of toys and Puffs for them. This is a fairly kid-friendly restaurant, so I''m hoping for the best. We''re still working on them not throwing things off their trays (trust me, I work on this every meal...it''s a recent phenomenon to let me know they are done)...and i will not keep them there too long...I''m terribly nervous. We''ve always been able to tag-team, so if one of them is not behaving, we''ve taken them quickly out of the restaurant while the other stays with baby #2. Ugh.

It''s not that we haven''t taken them out -- again, it''s me taking both out alone without "emergency meltdown backup." And I don''t want them throwing stuff off their trays. Like I said, we''re working on that, so I''m sure my resolve will be tested when we go out. When we''ve gone out, 9 times out of 10 they''ve been awesome...but man, that 10th time, it was a good thing there were two of us.

Maybe I should just hope for the best? Or maybe only bring one with me...it''s not like I owe these two people two babies. But I know I''m only doing that because I''m scared and am imagining the worst possible situation...which would involve screaming children, flying food, dogs and cats living together, and me and the boys getting the ol'' stink eye from patrons covered in moist Puffs.

Ok, they''re not that bad.

In fact, they''ve been down right excellent, and quite amusing. We went outside for our daily outside time (DOT) yesterday, and when we came back in, I asked L. if he wanted me to take his shoes off or if he anted to try himself. He was dressed in his puffy coat and leaned forward to look down at his shoes...and fell on his face. He was perfectly fine and started laughing. So did I.

In the "thank goodness we''re not in a condo building anymore" file: Jackson was walking around making weird vowel sounds yesterday. "Eeeeee, aaaaaah, oooohhhh" and so on. I got my inner Fonzie on, looked at him, gave him two thumbs up and said, "Ayyyy." Apparently, funniest thing ever to an 18-month-old. Funniest thing ever to his mama is him trying to imitate it. He stopped after awhile and decided to mimic the dog''s bark (George saw a squirrel and lost his mind.)

Also funny to 18-month-olds is figuring out they can walk backward. The look of "oooh, look at me being all sneaky and backwards" is worth the c-section recovery.

One thing I may add to the Best Toy Ever thread is the Salad Spinner. They love the frickin Salad Spinner. It''s become something to compete over, grab, hold up, and behold. Fun for hours, and that''s without salad in it!

Cake is done, house smells good, Jackson is waking up from his nap...later gators!

 

[mrssalvo]

i'll be back later to catch up more, but quick question b/c I haven't had much PS time lately but is it me or have a few of you gals changed your user names? I've just noticed some of the long timers have slightly changed names. I'm easily confused

 

[Dreamer_D]

I changed my name. "dreamer_dachsie" was to cutesie pie for me!

I am hoping that the avatar and the _d will still let people know it is me

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 3/5/2010 10:00:05 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I changed my name. ''dreamer_dachsie'' was to cutesie pie for me!

I am hoping that the avatar and the _d will still let people know it is me

lol dreamer...I still knew you were you. a few others have changed too and I didn''t know if there was some call to slightly change your name kinda like the change your avatar to the shoe for lorelei thing and I was just out of the loop

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 3/5/2010 10:19:25 PM
Author: mrssalvo

Date: 3/5/2010 10:00:05 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I changed my name. ''dreamer_dachsie'' was to cutesie pie for me!

I am hoping that the avatar and the _d will still let people know it is me

lol dreamer...I still knew you were you. a few others have changed too and I didn''t know if there was some call to slightly change your name kinda like the change your avatar to the shoe for lorelei thing and I was just out of the loop

I think for some it was a thread started a while ago asking how secure people''s screen names were... and then because everyone else did it I thought I would too.

C''mon, all the cool kids are doing it! Change yours too... you can be mrsjones!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Hey mamas. The interview went well. Well, actually it was kinda lame. They had us do these group activities. We only talked about ourselves for 30 secs. Whatever. I guess like Dreamer said they just wanted to make sure we weren''t creepy. I am glad it is over. Once I was there I wasn''t nervous but there were some young ones! They seemed the most nervous. I thought the girl sitting next to me was going to have a stroke. Poor thing. So I will know in a few weeks. I am kinda nervous about the work load. I know I can do it but wonder if I can handle it WHILE parenting T. Luckily they give us 6 years to complete the program.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Tacori, you can totally handle it while parenting! Of course you can. If I can do it, you can do it. You''ll need some trusted helpers and a sense of humour, but it''s totally do-able.

I''m nearly at the end of law school and I haven''t felt like a bad parent so far (well, not because of that, anyway

)

Jen

 

[Tacori E-ring]

MrsM, thanks friend. Part of me wonders if I should put her in daycare. I guess I will see how it goes. My MIL said she would help watch her so that will help. But there is NO WAY my masters program is more work than your law school so that is VERY encouraging.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Tacori Of course you can parent and go to school! I didn't personally do it, but I have 2 close friends who had kids while still in grad school. One had two kids in grad school! It made things harder and it took longer for one of them to graduate, but in the end it was all great. You will just need to change your conception of what it means to be a good mom, perhaps

. And a good student. I think that you will need at least part time Daycare, no question in my mind, for your own sanity and to have time for your class work. It will be fun for Tessa to be in daycare part time, and it will benefit her in the long term to have a mom who is pursuing a dream.

ETA Most counselling programmes desire people with life experience, so they should be more accepting of people having kids than would the type of grad programme I attended, where you are expected to put family off until you get a job and have tenure

 

[Tacori E-ring]

DD, thanks for the advice. They give you 6 years to compete the program and the professor actually encouraged us to take our time. Out of the seven other women in my "interview" 3 had children. They were elementary school age which makes a difference I guess. Actually, everyone had very interesting stories/backgrounds. One was a former lawyer. One graduated in the 80s and worked in corporate america for the last 25 years. Lots of teachers looking to cross-over. One VERY annoying, bubbly, aggressive 21 year old graduating this May. T will be in preschool 3 days a week from 9-1. Do you think that is enough time? Plus she does take 2.5-3 hour naps. Not sure when those will end though. If I start during summer session (this is assuming I get in!) I was thinking of taking 2 classes but since it is only 5 weeks and they don''t lighten the work load we meet 3x a week. Might be tough but part of me wants to just tough it out for 5 weeks and take summer 2 off to enjoy T. Luckily she is in camp 2x a week for 8 hours total and my MIL seems very willing to help. I suppose I should offer compensation. Not sure how much. Hmmm...It''s going to be a looong time before I actually make money b/c after school I need to pay to be supervised for a year+ Hopefully by 40 I can get a paycheck

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Tessa''s eczema on her legs has gotten SOOO bad. Scary bad. Last night I put lotion on her and put her PJs on and she started crying and screaming "ouchies. Pants. Ouchies"

So we washed off the lotion (which we have used before and seems mild). That is the first time she has mentioned it bothering her and today she was itching. It is the worst behind her knees. I am going to call her Pedi tomorrow.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 3/7/2010 4:59:53 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Tessa''s eczema on her legs has gotten SOOO bad. Scary bad. Last night I put lotion on her and put her PJs on and she started crying and screaming ''ouchies. Pants. Ouchies''

So we washed off the lotion (which we have used before and seems mild). That is the first time she has mentioned it bothering her and today she was itching. It is the worst behind her knees. I am going to call her Pedi tomorrow.

Poor T. My kids had it pretty bad, and forget the name of the lotion that was prescribed. It was really thick and greasy, so would be very hard to take off... I am hoping her Eczema gets under control and heals up soon. It IS painful.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Tacori-maybe ask your Dr. about Eucerin or Aquaphor...I have eczema

it''s mild but a PITA nonetheless...they are both very mild and OTC> If you want to go the steriod route there are other lotions, but those are the ones that work the best for me.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 3/7/2010 4:59:53 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Tessa''s eczema on her legs has gotten SOOO bad. Scary bad. Last night I put lotion on her and put her PJs on and she started crying and screaming ''ouchies. Pants. Ouchies''

So we washed off the lotion (which we have used before and seems mild). That is the first time she has mentioned it bothering her and today she was itching. It is the worst behind her knees. I am going to call her Pedi tomorrow.

tacori, my kids exzema is horrible right now too. I''ve started giving them baths every other day and slathering them with vaseline. Your ped. may prescribe hydrocortizone. I''ve used it on Jake with success. Poor T. It really does hurt and inch.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 3/6/2010 2:14:22 AM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 3/5/2010 10:19:25 PM
Author: mrssalvo

Date: 3/5/2010 10:00:05 PM
Author: dreamer_d
I changed my name. ''dreamer_dachsie'' was to cutesie pie for me!

I am hoping that the avatar and the _d will still let people know it is me

lol dreamer...I still knew you were you. a few others have changed too and I didn''t know if there was some call to slightly change your name kinda like the change your avatar to the shoe for lorelei thing and I was just out of the loop

I think for some it was a thread started a while ago asking how secure people''s screen names were... and then because everyone else did it I thought I would too.

C''mon, all the cool kids are doing it! Change yours too... you can be mrsjones!

I admit that this is the first thing I thought of when I first noticed the name changes

Hello Mamas!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Tacori, I asked my friend who''s kids all have horrible allergies and eczema, she has to put vinegar in their baths with the water and then uses aquaphor after...in case that helps...

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Thanks everyone. I spoke with my dad and he said I should try a OTC steroid cream first and if that doesn''t work he can call in something stronger. He said use dove soap (mild) and space out the baths/showers. So I am going to try that before I take her to the pedi. He has mentioned before that it is bad in the folds (inner elbows and behind the knees) b/c of sweat getting trapped. I don''t really feel like she sweats that much but who knows.

Bella, does she use white vinegar? You are so sweet to ask. I might have to try that b/c her poor little legs are covered.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

yep, white vinegar--I think like a 1/2 c in the bath water--I can double check the amt if you want--and then plain aquaphor, no steriods--but when they get bad flare ups I think she has a perxcription cream that''s steriods...her poor kids have so many allergies I think she has to avoid steroids most of the time b/c they are already on other medications/creams

 

[gailrmv]

Hey Tacori! I really hope you get in! How long until you find out?

I think you''ll just have to wait and see how much time you will need for your schoolwork. In my grad program, about half of the students were straight from undergrad and half had some work experience. Most were pretty young, and none of the female students had children. None. A few of the male students had children but they also had wives who stayed home. My program would have been very difficult to do with a young child without daycare, but definitely possible with daycare (or MIL to help out). For mine, you took typically 5 classes at a time and finished in 2 years. The thing that made it really tough was the group projects. Most of my classes involved group work and the groups often wanted to meet evenings/weekends, which is when I wanted to be home with DH. They also tended to procrastinate which stressed me out. If the other people in your program have family obligations, maybe they would be more accommodating. Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[qtiekiki]

Going backward to catch up.

Bella mezzo
Thanks for the tip on using white vinegar for eczema. I''ll have to try it for M.

Tacori
Hope T''s eczema gets better soon. It might be the weather b/c M is starting to flare up too.
No experiences with going through a master program and being a parent, but I bet you''ll be just fine.
Congrats again on doing well at the interview. Fingers crossed for you.

Jas
I hope the boys will be on their best behaviors tomorrow, and I am sure they''ll just great.
I can just picture Jackson doing the two thumbs up and saying "Ayyy". How funny.
Salad spinner is pretty amusing to M also.

Puffy
I do like Junk Food tees, M has a few.

MrsS
I haven''t shop at Lucky Kids, though a store opened up close to my work last year. Will check it out when J is a toddler.

janine
LOL on your lost of interest in adult clothes. I haven''t lost interest, just that I haven''t been able to wear some regular clothes due to pregnancies and breastfeeding.
I bought a lot of polo stuffs for M and my nephews on sale at Macy''s. I got a few of the polo back from SIL actually when she gave me some hand-me-down for J. She kept telling me she has some brand new clothes with tags, so she''ll give them to me. Turned out they were all the polo that I bought for her DS, but I don''t think she remember that they are from us.

snlee
Yeah only if we live closer together. I think I am opposite of you b/c I don''t like a lot of the baby boys clothes. I don''t like the sports, cars/vehicles, dinosaurs theme stuffs much either. But I''ve found some good toddler boys clothes from Nordstroms Rack (before I got pregnancy with J). I bought the clothes thinking that I can use it if we have a boy or give it out as gifts to our nephews or friends.

Jas12
We have the same taste in boys clothes. I like H&M stuffs; I forgot about them b/c I can''t shop/browse online. I didn''t know Zara has kids clothing. I''ve never seen them in store here. I''ll have to look into it. And no Joe in US.
Co is so well-mannered. We haven''t been able to get M to say thank you yet. She says pleezzz whenever she wants something though.

That''s all the catching up for now.

We took M and J to their doc appointment last Friday. Everything is fine.
M''s stats (her 18 months appointment at 19 months)
height - 33.25 inches
weight - 23lbs 14oz

J''s stats
height - 21.5 inches
weight - 9lbs 12oz

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 3/7/2010 4:59:53 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Tessa''s eczema on her legs has gotten SOOO bad. Scary bad. Last night I put lotion on her and put her PJs on and she started crying and screaming ''ouchies. Pants. Ouchies''

So we washed off the lotion (which we have used before and seems mild). That is the first time she has mentioned it bothering her and today she was itching. It is the worst behind her knees. I am going to call her Pedi tomorrow.

Amelia has this too. We use epaderm, and while it doesn''t make it go away, it does keep it from getting too bad. Creases of knees and elbows are the worst, as you say. I had eczema as a child and it did improve quite a bit when my parents cut diary out of my diet. I know there is no proof of this as a treatment, but when Amelia''s gets bad, I do keep her away from dairy for a week or so and it does improve a fair bit. Could be coincidence of course, since this is not exactly a scientific study!

Re the school thing, I would be tempted to look into even a day a week of daycare. Sure, you could do it without, but I would give myself a sporting chance kwim? I''m a better mommy when I''m not stressed and it can be stressful when you have a deadline to meet while your toddler wants to play. Also, Amelia loves daycare, seems to like the structure and the activities. If it isn''t working, you can always reconsider (whichever route you go down). A full day to get immersed in work is much more productive for me than two half days. Time just slides away when you''re studying sometimes!

 

[Jas12]

Re: eczema. Oh the bane of my existence!!! as MrsM. said, dairy is a HUGE trigger. Some derms believe that eczema is only topical in nature, but i just know from my family experience, diet is a huge component & most docs are suggesting this now. For me I think it''s internal (food intolerance/allergy), made worse by external stuff (like humidity/soaps/detergent etc). As soon as i cheat and eat a bit of dairy i get a flare-up. Some other big triggers for kids are nuts, citrus, excess sugar, pets, detergents. Winter makes it worse b/c the air is dry and eczema likes a very precise level of humidity (not too dry and not too wet) so the key is to keep the skin moisturized but not ever wet.

Tacori--the werid thing about eczema is that it seems to adjust to a cream after a while and that cream will stop working. If you haven''t tried it, Spectro Kids Eczema care is really good. I use it on my own hands. Also, don''t use soaps in the bath. Just have T take a bath and then wash her diaper area afterward with a cream cleanser.
I hope it gets better for her. If she gets a prescription for a cortisone cream know that it does heal the skin quickly but the eczema will just return after you stop using it. The hard part is finding the trigger. It may just be worse due to weather changes right now, but maybe your pedi will suggest an elimination diet. Does she drink a lot of milk? Could try reducing that for a week or two?