PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[AllieLuv83]

Nope just give the whole container and watch for his signs of being full, that is the only time he really plays with food and one time he did throw a half full yogurt onto the ground. That made quite the splatter!

 

[noelwr]

Skye also has to feed herself or otherwise she'll just cry and stop eating. So I put little spoonfuls on her tray and she picks it up with her fingers. Yoghurt we still spoon feed her. When she's had enough she will also drop food on the floor. Same with sippy cup. Too bad we don't have a dog. I taught her a Dutch song which involves clapping and putting her hands on her head and she loves going through the motions.

 

[noelwr]

Nutella... yummy!

 

[Kunzite]

pupp - Thanks for the advice on the sweet potato pancakes, we might have to give that a try. DH tried to get O to try regular pancakes this weekend, but he just looked at them and shook his head no. That's what he does now. We offer a food, he closes his mouth tight, and shakes his head no! Don't ask me where he learned that, because we've certainly never done it! Perhaps it's a coincidence? But the weird things is that once in about ever 50 tries, he'll open his mouth and taste what we're giving him! Of course most of the time he just spits it out! So now we're up to graham crackers, cereal, EB cookies, and Chewy granola bars! Not exactly what I'd call a balanced diet. So clearly our problem is with texture since all of those things are very solid. We have another ear infection too!! It was preceded by days of walking into O's room in the morning and him being covered in poo!! I kid you not, this was the first time we'd ever had a blow out too. I just thought that we'd figured out the perfect diapering routine to avoid blow outs! How naive of me. This morning was the first morning in a week that we didn't have to do a load of poo laundry first thing in the morning. So hopefully that means the Amox is finally starting to do its magic.

bella - Any news on the work front? Your boss and insurance situations are both unbelievable!! I don't know how you put up with either. How is your DH doing with being a SAHD?

Allie - I think we have those cups, among many others. We've been trying different ones to see what he likes best. We forgot something at dc this morning, so dh ran back in and O was sitting there in his highchair downing an entire sippy cup full of milk!! I think he's playing us!! I find it very odd that your pedi said no water. Ours said to always offer water with food. If we could get this kid to eat actual food we'd even switch his cup of milk with water because I'd prefer that he drinks water. So jealous that C tries to feed himself, but I guess that goes without saying!

noel - I don't think Oliver says dada or mama on purpose, but he knows that I want him to say mama. So I'll look at him and go, "Oliver, say mama." He'll grin the most ornery grin ever and go, "dada!" as loud as he can! I have such a stinker!! I love that S is walking around with her walker! Just this week Oliver started walking with his..... wait for it...... highchair! We never bought him a walker but he figured out that if he holds onto the legs of his highchair he can walk around the room with it! So the day he figured it out he literally walked from one end of the room to the other for hours! I have a picture on my home computer, I'll try to upload it in a few days. It's funny because every time I start to worry about this kid's development he does something to amaze me. For instance, I was really starting to worry that he wasn't using any words/sounds appropriately. I thought for sure he should be able to identify something by now because we talk to him all the time. So as soon as those thoughts start going through my mind he starts this walking with the highchair business. He'll push the highchair from one side and eventually get stuck up against the wall, corner, etc. So instead of pushing the chair around randomly, he'll sit there for a second, look at the chair, and then get on the side where he can push it and get unstuck and walk to the other side of the room. That seems like pretty good reasoning skills to me! He's like, "see mama, I'm a smart one after all, don't worry!!"

 

[noelwr]

Kunzite - for Skye, everything is Dada now. When she gives me a toy, it's announced with a Dada. She doesn't use her walker a lot but does squeal with delight when she gets going. And she loves to dance. When there's music, she's continuously bouncing up and down, tilting her head to one side and putting a hand to one ear (like a dj does with his head phones). Sometimes it looks like she's trying to raise the roof. How is Oliver with his dance skills?

 

[noelwr]

any Christmas photos to share?

This is of Skye doing her morning yoga by the tree...


and here I am wearing her hat because she hates things on her head (my hair is growing back so I don't cover it anymore)

 

[Kunzite]

noel - Oliver's dancing skills are nonexistent! He doesn't have an interest in sitting still long enough. He likes when you're holding him and you dance though. Cute Christmas pictures!!

I think I've resigned myself to the fact that we're never going to get rid of this MOTN wake up. For the longest time it was always around 4-4:30, but once O started getting sick again it's unpredictable. Last night it was 3:30. We've pretty much given up trying to find a solution. The kid cries like a banshee and the only way he'll be consoled is by feeding him. It's weird too because he doesn't have to eat to fall asleep any other time, so it's not like we've created a food/sleep habit. DH was reading that some kids still have their blood sugar drop in the MOTN until they're much older, so maybe that's truly it. Otherwise, I have no idea. It's not like he wants our company. If you pick him up out of his crib he gets irate! We joke that the twins will be STTN before he does. I suppose we shouldn't joke because at this rate it's probably true!!

And a few pictures for good measure....

Walking around the room with his highchair, playing with his stacking cups he got for Christmas, and talking back to me like a true toddler!!

 

[AllieLuv83]

STTN...Charlie still wakes up once in a while but he didn't start sleeping the whole night consistently until like 14 months. When he cried I would go to him and he would ALWAYS need to nurse!

 

[Lanie]

Hey ladies!!! I haven't been on since Halloween (at least) and was missing my PS friends and babies. I can't believe I'm posting in this thread! Anderson had his birthday on Dec 20th. We had 40 people, and 10 little kids running around. NEVER AGAIN will we have such a huge party. It was nuts. But really fun! More on A later...

Kunzite -- you are having twins?!?!? I am missing out on all of the gossip! Congrats!!!! That's so exciting! I love the pics of Oliver! And all of his nicknames too!

Noel -- Hey lady! Skye is still so beautiful! I have loved reading about her development and seeing the recent pics. Love the Christmas ones! You are looking great too, by the way. Hope you are still feeling good.

LV -- love the pics of Samantha at Christmas! Wasn't it so much fun?!? She's so pretty!!!

pupp -- love the pics of Nolan too! I'm totally laughing at the tampon one. That's great.

allie -- I feel like I haven't read from you in awhile, and you were absent as well. Loving the pics of Charlie...so handsome!

Bella -- little B is so handsome! Love the poo story. Post more pics! How was his first Christmas?

I'm sure I'm missing some people...oh! Fiery! Love the Tinkerbell Halloween pictures! Sophia is such a pretty girl!

OK as for us...here are some pictures. His first Christmas and b'day party were good. Crazy, but good. I hate birthdays around the holidays! Too much going on! He's thisclose to walking. He's only taken 2 steps on his own (does that count as first steps?) one time. Other than that, he'll take a step and then hands down to the floor. He'll stand by himself for a bit before holding on to a couch or something, but tonight he stood by himself for about 30 seconds. I was so excited! He says dada and mama but I still can't tell if he means it. He says mama when he's crawling to me and dog piling me, so maybe he does. He is permanently attached to my leg at any waking moment. Seriously...the kid won't let me out of his sight. Kinda cute, but kinda annoying...I'm not going to lie. He is getting a little devious...he'll throw toys too (pupp -- I'm in the same boat!), and will do things like throw food when he's done, or put his foot up on his highchair tray. I'll say not to do it, and he'll look me square in the eye and keep doing it. Argh. I'm dreading the terrible twos already! But he can be so sweet and loves to give me kisses and hugs. Like multiple times an hour. I'm always wondering how much he understands, because I'll ask him "where are your books" and he'll crawl to them, but other times he'll ignore me. Or I'll say "where is the phone" and he'll go over and hold up the plastic phone. But other times, he'll hold up something else. So who knows. Here are a couple of recent pics. His hair is getting out of control and I need to find somewhere to cut it for me. Hope you all have a good new year!!!

 

[Lanie]

One more!

 

[Kunzite]

Allie - It makes me feel so much better to hear that C was still waking up. I feel like people just look at me like I'm doing something wrong when I say that O is still waking up!

Lanie - Good to see you back mama! Happy birthday to A!! That party sounds out of control. Super cute pictures of your little guy. I hear you on the holiday birthdays. O is in November, and then his cousins are December and January. There's literally no break! At least the twins will be in the spring/early summer. We're getting really close to walking too. I think O has clued in on how much fun walking around is so he's getting braver. His highchair was two steps away from where he was standing the other day and you could see the wheels turning in his head! He would let go of what he was holding and just look at the highchair like he wanted it so bad. Then he'd hold on again, rinse and repeat about ten times! I know he's just going to go for it one of these days. They work with him a lot at daycare too so I think that's helping. He has a little girlfriend that's the same as him development-wise and they encourage each other. It's really cute.

AFU - We're headed back to the doctor this afternoon to see if O's ear infection is gone. He's been acting a lot better the last few days, but he still holds his ear so we want to make sure it's gone since he'll be off the antibiotics over the weekend. Fingers crossed. Does anybody's baby grind their teeth? We just got our third tooth on the top last week and O has taken to grinding the top and bottom teeth really loudly! I'm like, kid! You just got these teeth, let's not ruin them already!!

I have my own doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I'm really nervous. Twins are just so risky and the idea of something happening to one of them is too much for me. I know everything is probably fine, but I just need Tuesday to get here already so I know for sure!

 

[noelwr]

yay! so great to see other mommies posting.

Lanie - I think Anderson has definitely had his first steps. how exciting! I love his hair, why cut it? has he got gray eyes? regarding talking, DH and my mom both have told me that bilingual kids start speaking later.

Kunzite - Oliver looks so much bigger! in his jeans, where he's standing up straight, his legs look so long! Skye is also still waking up anywhere between 4 and 5:30 am for a bottle and will go back to sleep after (or stay up chatting to herself for half-an-hour, but not crying if she's had her drink). this has been going on for months. we try to prop her full of food all day and then give her a dream feed at 10:30 pm, but still she'll wake up early in the morning. this week there was one day when she didn't wake up and I had to get her up at 6:45 because I needed to go the office, but like I said, that hasn't happened in MONTHS. Ooh... a top tooth! Skye's 3 are all on the bottom. good luck with your Tuesday appointment!

- - -

well, following along with what the other ladies have posted...

Skye is such a cutie, though often naughty. She eats very well, including 2 sandwiches a day and drinks cow's milk now. She especially likes to eat whatever Mommy is eating (so I have to share all my snacks otherwise she'll hang on to my leg and whimper). Still using the walker or us holding her arms to walk and not yet standing unassisted. However, she loves to be chased as she crawls quickly away. There is definitely separation anxiety because if I leave the room, she will come crying and crawling after me. Some days she won't let me go when I drop her off at day care and other days I put her down and she crawls away, forgetting all about me. Most things are still "Dada". The only time she says "Mama" is when she's eating or if she's really hungry and whining for food. Maybe she thinks "Mama" means "more"? I have no idea. I have gotten her to repeat "Bah!" after me which is the word we use in Dutch for "yucky". Otherwise, she is extremely chatty at day care. I don't get many kisses from her, but when I do it consists of her putting her open mouth against my kissy lips. Once in while, she'll suddenly throw herself at me and put her arms around my neck for a hug. I think I mentioned before that I taught her a song that requires clapping and putting her hands on her head which she is very good at. Still loving music. I think it just takes over her whole body. Maybe she'll try out for So You Think You Can Dance in 16 years.

here we are getting ready to go outside this morning

 

[AllieLuv83]

Hey mamas! We are sick AGAIN. Another ear infection. He woke up tuesday not eating anything all day which is so unlike him.That night he was running a fever. The fever didn't improve by Thursday so we took him to the doctor and he has a pretty significant infection in his right ear. He is still running I fever. I feel so bad for him being so miserable. He is not really eating, nursing a lot more.

His fever seems to spike at night. He will wake up burning hot. I hope he is feeling better by tomorrow.

 

[Lanie]

Quick update!!! A started walking yesterday! He took 10 steps. He started with just 4, and I ran and wrote it in his baby book at about noon. By 5pm he was walking 10 steps. Today he's walking about the same, and will all of the sudden just start walking, then drop down and crawl the rest of the way. I haven't been this excited since he was born!!!

 

[Lanie]

OK back with more time on my hands before our NYE party!

Noel -- I laughed out loud on the SYTYCD comment! That's so funny. When A kisses me, he open mouth kisses me too. And you're right about bilingual babies talking later. I hope I just don't start freaking out and switching to only English. It's so hard bc we have 2 other close friends of mine with babies all within 3 months of Anderson, so it's hard not to compare. So I know when/if he's delayed, I'll start getting nervous. What kind of sandwiches do you make Skye?

Kunzite -- good luck at your appt! Are you finding out the sexes? Any hopes for a little girl?

Allie - hope he's feeling better soon. Love those nakee pics!

What do you guys feed your kids? I need some new ideas. I feel like I give him the same stuff all the time:

Bfast --
frozen wheat waffle with a little butter
cottage cheese (one of his faves) with frozen fruit that I've thawed out (mango, strawberry, pineapple)
applesauce
diced peaches
diced pears
instant oatmeal (not a fave)
banana (his absolute fave food)

Lunch or Dinner --
avocado
green beans
carrots
sweet potato
sweet potato fries I make from cutting up a sweet potato
chicken nuggets (not my fave since they are breaded and lots of fat but so easy to whip up)
cheese and chicken quesadillas
Annie's mac and cheese
Annie's cheese lasagna
any kind of pasta, especially cold pasta salad
hummus and pita bread

That's all I can think of. Please respond with new things you've tried that are easy to make!

 

[AllieLuv83]

Charlie eats just about anything...

Usually we have a meat, a veggie and a carb.

Pasta
raviolis
stuffed shells
Annies mac and cheese
Couscous
Soup
Hot dog
ziti
pork chops
steak
fish

we do a lot of steam in a bag veggies
cauliflower
broccoli
peas
carrots
zucchini
tomatoes
cucumbers
green beans
corn

for breakfast we do:
eggs
waffles
french toast
oatmeal
apple sauce
bananas
pancakes

 

[Loves Vintage]

Kunzite - LOVE guitar sweater photo!! You take the best pictures! Amazing. Love guitar sweater too, hee-hee. So, is he leaning up against the wall? Does he do that on his own? I think you said O's not walking on his own yet. He can stand without hanging on to something? Just trying to figure out how all of this works, but all babies are different, so maybe they don't all get to walking the same way. Dunno.

Lanie!!! I'm so glad you're back!! I gave you a shout-out in the other thread a while ago!! I missed you!! A is sooooooooooo cute! Did you have pro photos done? The outdoor photos? Tooooooo cute! So, I'm really curious about this walking thing. Did A hold onto furniture or his crib and walk while holding on for a long time? That's the stage that S is at, so I'm trying to figure out how long before steps on her own.

You mentioned comparing to other babies. I am kind of a worrier in most aspects of life, but for some reason, I'm really not worried about developmental stuff. I will admit when I hear about a baby, like one at daycare, who walks at 8 months, yeah, I feel a little ding, but then I remind myself that it's super not going to matter like 10 years from now, so I don't give it a second thought. You seem really laid-back, so not even sure why I'm mentioning this, other than to say that it's something I've given some thought.

Re: food, we do some of the same things as you (not a fan of oatmeal here either). Here are some things we do:

Pancakes! I usually mix in a spoonful of cottage cheese for one pancake to add some protein, and then I don't have to spoon feed her the cottage cheese either. You can mix in lots of things - shredded cheese and chopped steamed broccoli, fruit, shredded zucchini . . . and it's all self-serve!

French toast. Whole wheat bread, egg, milk and cinnamon. I usually make this for daycare, then I set her up with her breakfast as soon as we get there. And, again, self-serve, which I think helps the teachers out a little bit.

Whole milk unsweetened yogurt. I do mix in like half a tsp of unsweetened fruit preserves (like polaner all-fruit, but the trader joe's brand.) Also easy for daycare. I like the trader joe's yogurt too. I think it's a 32 oz container, it's less expensive than regular grocery store and has better ingredients.

Roasted acorn squash.

Butternut squash. There's a brand called Cascadian Farms. This is a super back-up item that we always have in the freezer. She loves it!

Fritatta! I make mine with carmelized onions, potatoes (boiled, then sliced thin), baby spinach, tomato and cheese. She loves it!

Grilled cheese.

Cream cheese sandwich.

Pear cut-up.

For dinner, she usually eats whatever we're eating. Homemade pizza (DH loves to make it!), Thai Curry, tofu, Mexican lasagna, pasta. On nights we have something she doesn't care for, like rice and beans (she'll only eat the beans), we'll make her something different.

 

[Lanie]

Thanks for the tips on food ladies!

Noel -- I forgot to answer your question. His eyes started out blue, and are now blueish green. I think they'll end up green since mine are bright green and DH's are light brown. He has my exact eyes...it's my favorite part about him! Is that vain?

And Kunzite -- I meant to tell you that I loved his guitar sweater as well. And the pose he has in that photo! Where is his sweater from? I find myself gravitating to the girls' section in store now. They have some of the cutest clothes!

LV -- Sorry, I didn't see your shout-out, but thank you! I love shout outs! I looked back in my baby book to see the answer to your question. He pulled up on his own to furniture at about 9.5 months. Then it was about a week after that that he started cruising. So he was cruising for awhile before starting to walk. I will say that he got SUPER crabby a couple of days before walking. Maybe a week before. He would cry and cry and I couldn't figure out why. He would wake up at odd times during the night, again, we couldn't figure out what was going on. I researched on the internet and lots of moms said their babies became like this before major milestones. He would walk with his little hands around my fingers about a month ago I guess, and then I'd start letting go so he was just holding one hand. He did that for about the last month...just walking around holding one of my hands. And I could tell the wheels were turning because he'd try to stand by himself for about a week before walking. Then Wednesday and Thursday he was taking about 2-3 steps but would immediately throw himself towards a piece of furniture or one of us, the Friday he took multiple steps. Now Sunday, he'll walk halfway across our living room. You could totally tell it was a mental thing. He had all of the motor skills of walking, but he just needed to get over the mental hurdle. And he's so proud of himself every time he does it. It's amazing! If she's cruising, she'll be walking soon! I talked to other friends of mine with babies that only cruised about a month or so, so it could be sooner than you think. How exciting!!!

And yes, I'm super laid-back. I just think it's hard having my 2 close friends in the same daycare as well, and they move up to a new room depending on development, so I was just worried A would be left behind since he's the youngest. My friends' babies are 13 months and 16 months. But you are totally right...none of this will matter soon, and everyone will all be caught up. I tell my husband all the time that I've never had a parent/teacher conference where we are discussing the student not sleeping through the night or not being potty trained!

 

[noelwr]

Lanie - Skye eats 2 slices of whole-wheat bread a day with either cream cheese, paté, peanut butter or Nutella (once a week). we don't do breakfast. she gets her oatmeal bottle around 5 am, goes back to bed, and then has fruit at day care at 9:30. for evening meal, we also combine stuff, and it gets mashed but is still solid enough for her to pick up should she prefer to eat with her hands. here some examples:

broccoli + rice + boiled egg
cauliflower + potato + minced beef
peas + rice + fish/chicken
spinach + macaroni + bacon + cheese sauce
zucchini + spaghetti + minced beef + tomato sauce

other combinations can be done with carrots, ham or sausage. for snacks we have bread sticks, Cheerios, cookies, cheese and anything Mom & Dad are snacking on. I didn't think of quesadillas - maybe I'll try that tomorrow! I think she would like that with spinach.

I stopped worrying about Skye's development. sure, I'd love it if she was walking already because she's getting too heavy for me and it would be so cool if she started talking, but like you say, as long as they are walking, talking and fully potty-trained by the time they go to school, it doesn't matter when it happened.

- - -

some new things:

we think she is now saying: "Up!" it doesn't really sound like "up", more like "aaaap" and she really overdoes the "P", but we're pretty sure that's what she's saying.

she knows how to put the top/lid back on bottles. I don't know how she knows this as I never taught her (I guess just watching carefully), but she even knows how to turn it the right side up. we still have to work on screwing them shut.

she loves to press buttons. I let her call up the elevator for me, as well as start the washer and dryer. but once the washer gets going, I have to take her away or she'll change the programs mid-wash!

 

[Skippy123]

just a quick fyi, the IKEA Antilop high chair has been recalled http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/newsroom/product_recalls/index.html


adorable babies ladies!

 

[Lanie]

Thanks for posting Skippy!!! I have this high chair. LOVE IT! Off to see if mine matches the recall.

 

[noelwr]

hi ladies. I'm off to Houston tomorrow for a week.

no major updates here. Skye's two words are still "Dada" and "Up". sometimes I get a "Mama", but not always.

The day care teachers are so funny. When I was there, one of the 3-year-olds asked the teacher, "Can I go to your house?" To which she replied, without missing a beat, "I have to go to the gym tonight, so that doesn't work for me." And then the teacher asked her, "Do you want to go home with Skye's mom?" The little girl nodded. "Go get your coat then." So she went off to get her coat and the teacher yelled after her, "So what do I tell your mom when she comes to pick you up?" The little girl shouted back, "Tell her I'm playing hide-and-go-seek!" anyway, she didn't come with me, which is good because I wouldn't know what to do with a 3-year-old.

 

[Kunzite]

Lanie - So exciting that A is walking now!! I'm so jealous, it must be so much fun!! Yes, we're going to find out the sexes. I cannot wait! With O we nearly didn't find out, but with these two I can't find out soon enough. I think it's because all of the different outcomes will change our family in different ways, you know? We're certainly crossing our fingers for at least one girl. Can you imagine three boys? I don't even think I could come up with two boys names

LV - Yes, he'll walk along the wall some and he can stand unassisted. I just looked back in his journal and he's been walking along the furniture since the beginning of September and standing without holding on to anything since the beginning of November. So it's been a pretty slow process for sure.

noel - I hope you're having fun on your trip!! Our daycare teachers are pretty funny too. O has been throwing fits at home for a few months now but I guess he just started doing it at daycare last week. When we came it to pick him up he was in the swing!! He looked so big and out-of-place in it. His teacher said he started throwing a fit about something so she put him in the swing to cool off!!

re: Annies foods - Do you ladies find the salt content to be a little high in them? We were going to try some of them out with O, but after looking at the label dh said we'd just end up pickling the poor kid if we fed them to him!!

AFU - O took two steps yesterday!!! He was holding onto the table leg and his highchair was a few steps away, and he just went for it! It was amazing to see. He's tried to do it a few times since but always ends up on his knees before getting to his destination. So we've still got a little way to go, but it was so cool to see!!

Can you tell that this kid loves his highchair? One of our cats will jump in it and tease O, so O will push him around the room! It's cute for about two minutes until he starts pulling the cat's hair and the cat starts biting at him!! Those two bicker like they were siblings.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Kunzite, That cat in highchair photo is PRICELESS! Are you serious? The cat lets O push him around. My cats would have been out of there so fast!! S still clears the room of cats with her squealing. It is really completely adorable to see the amazement on her face (still!) at their mere presence, then she squeals, then starts moving toward them.

And Yay for Baby O Steps! Has he been walking more? How are you feeling these days?

 

[Kunzite]

LV - I'm telling you, the cat not only comes around O, he taunts him!! If O is playing peacefully on the floor the cat will come over to him and lay right next to his leg. So of course O will start messing with him which leads to the cat biting him! If O is playing with books on the bookshelf, the cat jumps on the shelf, if he's pushing a chair around, the cat jumps on the chair! It's crazy!! Yesterday Oliver figured out how to open the kitchen cabinets and was playing with all of his food containers and spoons. What does the cat do? He gets in the cabinet and starts knocking the containers on the floor! It's like he's saying, "I want to play too!!" My other cat will just tolerate him. She doesn't mind being around him until he starts to pull her hair. She'll even put up with that for a few minutes, but usually she'll just calmly get up and leave the room. We're trying to work on getting him to play nice with them, but we're not making much progress. I think he's still a little too young to understand.

He hasn't been walking more, boo! It looks like for now it was a one time thing. He'll try to take a step or two, but always ends up on the floor. We've had horrible weather here and our daycare has either been closed or on limited hours. The good thing about that is when he has been at daycare this week they have so few kids that they've been putting him in the "waddlers" room. I'm hoping that seeing all of the other kids walking will help him be more motivated to keep trying. Peer pressure or something. I'm feeling fine, thanks for asking! I just have to eat all of the time and rest a lot, but nothing too bad. I still can't change poo diapers (poor DH!!) but that seems to be the last thing that gets me.

I'm so excited that tomorrow is Samantha's birthday!! You're going to have a one year old!!! I just love the pictures you just posted. I'm really looking forward to seeing her birthday pictures!!

 

[noelwr]

I'm back from Houston and had a great time. it was good to have a little break.

Skye, now 13 months, has the chicken pox. well, at least she got it at an age where we don't have to fight with her not to scratch. she doesn't have many on her legs and arms, so I think it could be worse. she was fine all weekend and slept well, but last night and today she's been a bit cranky. it hasn't affected her appetite, though. we are still waiting for the time when she becomes picky and starts eating less.

not walking unassisted, yet. her words are still Mama, Dada and Up! yesterday, I swear she said "Huggie" while hugging her Minnie Mouse. another favorite word is "Acky" which we have no idea what that means. otherwise, she mimics talking on the phone. we hardly talk on the phone at home, so I think she learned this from my mom who spent the week here while I was gone. I got my first kiss from Skye yesterday that I didn't have to initiate. I was sitting on the floor, folding laundry, and she was standing up, holding on to my shoulder. I turned my face to her and she put her lips to mine and made a smack sound!

my little chicken poxed girl on the phone...

 

[Loves Vintage]

Hi Noel, Sorry to see Skye has chicken pox. I suppose now would be the best time to get it over with. I take it they don't vaccinate for CP in Holland? Glad to hear you had a good Houston trip. Did you get a lot of shopping done? Did you see any sights while you were there? Yay for baby kisses! That is so sweet.

Kunzite, So, the other day, I was looking back at old posts in the Newborn thread (feeling nostalgic, I guess), and you had posted a photo of O grabbing that cat's ear! Hahaha!! He was maybe 6 mos then? They have quite a history together!!

*************
So, I have a question. How is this transition to whole milk supposed to work? S doesn't really seem to like it. Is she going to drink the same amount of whole milk as she was drinking of formula? Do you warm the milk first? I noticed in the recent "how much milk does your toddler drink" thread, that a lot of babies don't seem to drink as much milk as they did formula or bm. I didn't ask the pedi specifically, but he kind of gave the impression that there would be the same number of bottles.

Also, we are on day 5 of a fever with S. Started on her birthday at 100.7, and has consistently been that high until this morning it was 99.8, but this is with an ear thermometer, so who knows what her actual temp is or has been. She was at the doctor on Monday for her one year visit. He looked at her ears, and noted fluid in one ear, but said no infection. I wonder if she could have a UTI? She seems to scream out every now and again, and I wonder if that is when she is urinating, but I also wonder if maybe I am imagining things! She's going back to the dr today. Thoughts? Advice?

 

[Kunzite]

noel - Sorry to hear about the chicken pox! I hope that S is tolerating it well. I had chicken pox right before my sister was born and literally gave them to her the day she came home from the hospital!! Whoops! I love that she's talking on the phone, that's adorable. Tell us all about your trip! Did you have fun? Get a lot of shopping done?

LV - The birthday pictures you posted of your beautiful S are so good! She looks like she had a great time!! We transitioned to cow's milk slowly. We were lucky because O has always been okay taking a cold bottle so we never warmed it up (the idea of warm cow's milk grosses me out). When we started he was still taking four bottles a day so we just switch one to room temperature milk (let it sit out for a little bit to get the chill off). Then after he tolerated that for a few days we switched a second bottle (both day bottles). So for a month or so both of his day bottles were cow's milk. We told daycare not to warm them up because they wouldn't be warm out of a sippy cup. So while he was getting these two bottles we were still trying with the sippy cup. He would only drink about 4oz out of the sippy cup so if I hadn't read the "How much milk does your toddler drink" thread we probably would have kept with the bottles for longer. But after I read that and realized that the amount of fluids he was getting was much, much higher than most kids his age we relaxed a little. So now for the past month we've been giving him all of his milk during the day in his sippy cup. He's up to around 6oz a day. He got a lot better once we cut the bottles. Unfortunately, he still gets two bottles of toddler formula still. The early morning one because as I've bemoaned many times, he won't go back to sleep without it. And we're reluctant to let the before bed one go just because he's such a poor eater. I don't feel like he's getting a very balanced diet yet so I like that he's getting the toddler formula. Once his eating picks up a little (he's been taking small steps lately), we'll cut out the bedtime one. Sorry to hear about the fever! O has only ever gotten a fever with an ear infection so I don't have much advice.

AFU - We're having a wakeful! For the last three days O will wake up at his normal bottle time, but won't go back to sleep for about two hours. He doesn't cry or play, he just lays there awake! This morning we tried to rub his back until he fell asleep, but that didn't work either. He just laid there wide awake. Poor boy has his mama's sleep problems already!!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Thanks, Kunzite, for the milk advice. She does drink water from a sippy, but really not a lot at all. And, she LOVES to take a sip, and then spit it out down the front of her shirt, all while looking at you, like, "what?" Hee-hee. Fortunately, no matter what she does, I think it's the cutest thing ever. "Ohhhh, you're throwing sweet potatoes on the floor because you're done eating again, sweetie? How CUTE you are!" I'll start trying milk in her sippy to see how she does.

So, turns out she has an ear infection. DH brought her to the Dr, even though the receptionist tried to talk me out of an appointment, and turns out she has an infection, so antibiotics are on the way. I missed work yesterday, DH is home today so I can work, and I may wind up missing work tomorrow too.

No advice on the sleep, as we all know that is not my area of expertise. haha. Maybe it's because he has so much stuff going on developmentally?

 

[Loves Vintage]

Pacifiers. If your baby used one, at what age and HOW did you get baby to say bye-bye to the pacifier? If your baby still uses one, at what age do you plan to help baby say bye-bye to it.

Recently, I read it's good to take it away by 18 months. Then, I noticed there's conflicting advice about when is a good age. S LOVES her pacifier, and will wake up and cry out if she can't find it. Not feeling too confident about this transition.