Home PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[sbde]

hello mommies!



thanks to everyone for their replies on the baby/push present. i'm still leaning towards a pendant, but i figure i still have time to mull over it.

penelopejane: we're having a girl i was secretly hoping for one, just so that i would have one of each and not feel the need to "try" for a 3rd baby to have a girl - so we're pretty thrilled. your RHR is gorgeous btw! how is A feeling now?

mustanggal: i think it's a good idea to drop the paci removal efforts until kyle turns 2, since he's shown that he's not ready to let go just yet. adorable pics of kyle on the beach!

puffy: lucky you - that bracelet sounds beautiful. have you started a thread to show it off in SMTR?

jas12: so nice to see you again - sounds like things are going super well with co and kate - yay! that gives me hope for when my baby #2 comes along in 2 mos.

blen: gock is TOTALLY a word!

dd: question - did you have an anterior placenta? i vaguely remember you mentioning it - but could be wrong. i just found out that is what i have, and was hoping to get some insight into what that means for me, other than feeling less fetal movement.

things are good with me. i'm having biweekly preggo appointments now, which seems too soon! just a little over 2 months to go before our little girl makes an appearance. baby J is doing ok, poor little guy has been sick for a week or so. high temps (102) and an upset stomach - i really think something is going around because so many kids seem to be feeling blah right now. he's doing well otherwise though and said his first full sentence a few wks ago! i couldn't believe it haha he can actually communicate. he is going to look SO big to me once the newborn arrives, i'm already getting all sad abt it!

hi to anyone else that i missed

 

[lili]

In fact, I know they do, because when Hunter was in a study they gave me a list to measure his vocabulary and the instructions specifically said that it did not matter if the word was pronounced differently than spelled, or than adults say, if they were consistent it was a word.

Yup, that's what my pedi said too.

 

[Dreamer_D]

sbde I just commented in the preggo thread!

 

[sbde]

sbde I just commented in the preggo thread!

thanks dreamer!!

 

[Pandora II]

Blen - Gock is most definitely a word! I don't think Daisy has any that are completely correct yet.

Sbde - Congrats on Team Pink!

M-gal - Lovely the beach photos - the one with your DH is so cute!

Daisy seems to have mellowed a bit the last week or so - which may be connected with ALL four pre-molars coming through at once - anyway, the tantrums are a bit less than they have been.

We spent a week with my parents in Cornwall which was lovely - did lots of beachy things and they even babysat so DH and I went for a joint wedding anniverary/meeting anniversary/my b-day dinner. My parents had their siamese cats with them which Daisy went nuts about - she adores animals and was suprisingly gentle with them.

Even better, DH is severely allergic to cats and has started a 3 year programme of desensitising shots - he wasn't completely fine, but the last 3 days there he didn't need to take any antihistimines at all. I'd been really worried, not only because it's miserable for him, but the house in Cornwall has been in my family for over 50 years and I spent nearly every summer there as a child so it has huge memories for me and ones I'd like to share with Daisy. If he'd had a really bad time it would have ruled out most future visits.

We're hitting a very independent streak at the moment with Daisy... she can now take her own clothes off and is learning to put them on - and knows what SHE wants to wear. This morning I pulled out a pair of green trousers for her and she grabbed the lilac ones. I put them back and took her out to the sitting-room to get dressed. She wriggled off my knee, went back to her room, got the lilac ones out of the drawer and put them on - albeit back to front .

She's also obsessed with 'Ter Teef' which is brushing her teeth. In the morning she sits bolt upright and then instead of the usual 'Hi-hi' just starts saying 'Ter teef, ter teef' until I get up and get the toothbrush for her. Then anytime during the day that she goes near the bathroom she inists on doing her teeth again

Went to the International Jewellery Show in London last Sunday - a whole Daisy free day which was nice - it's trade-only but a friend of a friend from NY got me in... then I discovered that I could have got in anyway as a Gem-A student. I saw some amazing bling and got to try on some incredible pieces, including the 10 cttw earrings (the vendor wanted to show a client what they looked like on and would I mind??? Er, yes please! Actually they didn't look so great on - they were so heavy that they pulled my ear down and they tilted towards the ground - but still!

Made some great contacts there, plus bumped into my tutor who was all happy about my exam - I got the top mark in the year in the UK apparently - so I bought some rocks to celebrate. Two tsavorites, both ovals, one 1.35ct and one 1.23ct, both medium dark with a blue overtone; a 1.60ct mali garnet in a yellow shade; a 0.86ct round sphene and a matched pair of trilliant sphene all in green and with great dispersion; and finally a faceted moonstone which was very unusual looking.

Went back again on Tuesday - with Daisy - and a couple of guys from my course. They'd set up a company called 'Ruby Rose' to get in which the tutors seriously took the mick out of when we bumped into them. One of the other's was working there and I bought some beads for Daisy from him - a strand of rose quartz, a strand of blue fluorite and a very pretty strand of spherical amber beads - I've heard they're great for teething so we will find out!

Course started again last Monday - I'm so enjoying having some 'me' time - I finish in June 2011 when we have the final exams and then I hopefully get my FGA. I really feel like I'm ready to go back to work and that Daisy would be a good age to start nursery or at least daycare. I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to stay at home with her this long but I'd now like to have quality time rather than quantity with her and I think working part-time would give us that. So, I'm starting to look for a new job. Ideally I'd love something in the gemmology field, but I'm also open to other things if they come up. The only thing I won't do is retail unless it's weekdays only - weekends are for family.

Here's a couple of photos of my bear:

This was in Portmeirion in Wales - a very strange and beautiful little village. It was freezing cold water and a pretty cold day, but Daisy seems immune to the cold!

 

[Pandora II]

This is a vintage baby dress that my mother found - it's Viyella and hand-smocked...

 

[Pandora II]

We went down an old mine working at Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall - Daisy was meant to wear a hard hat but it was way too big for her. She also had to walk as the tunnels were way too low for her to be picked up and carried. Madam was not amused by this at all and decided to throw a tantrum halfway down. This photo was taken minutes before the tantrum began...

 

[Pandora II]

Last one...

Oh, and does anyone have any advice on stopping kids drawing on walls, floors etc (other than buying tins of paint to cover them over)??

 

[Dreamer_D]

Last one...

Oh, and does anyone have any advice on stopping kids drawing on walls, floors etc (other than buying tins of paint to cover them over)??

My only advice is to only ket them have drawing implements when you are there to supervise, and if they make a move for the wall tell them if they draw on it, they will lose the crayons. Then follow though!

Also washable markers/crayons are better than nothing.

 

[Dreamer_D]

And Daisy is a little cutie butt!

 

[mrssalvo]

Pandora, Daisy is just a doll!! love all the pics. I have found magic eraser works great for getting crayon/marker off the wall. I keep all of our art supplies in a bin with a lid and only take it out when I can supervise jake. I just constantly reinforce that we only color on paper and I make sure to have plenty of plain paper handy.


I'm sorry I've been MIA. life is just so busy that I really don't have time for PS. everyone is doing well though. jake just started pre-school 2 days a week. he loves it and so do it. It's so much easier to shop solo and I end up saving $ too boot!!

 

[Shoopy]

Wow Pan those pictures of Daisy are beautiful

 

[Blenheim]

Pandora - Daisy is just precious. I love the shot of the two of you together - looks so peaceful.
And can I just say that I am jealous that she likes teef teef? George HATES it. It's a battle every night.

Does anyone have suggestions for making a move as easy as possible on a toddler? We're having grandparents/aunt watch him while we do most of the moving and shuffling and unpacking of boxes to try to insulate him from the chaos and toddler-proofing nightmare that is packing peanuts and fragile things all over the place, but I think that we're going to start sleeping at the new place next weekend and I'd like for the transition to be as smooth as possible... We have a very set bedtime routine and we're going to continue to do that in the new place, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions. TIA!

 

[Sabine]

Blen, the routine and the move itself wasn't really an issue for Jacks when we moved (he was 11 months). But he does fine sleeping whenever and wherever as long as we do the same routine and follow his schedule.

For us, the thing that worked best in terms of packing/unpacking was doing his room last when packing, and then unpacking a bunch of toys by themselves in a room and put NO boxes in there, so then while one of us unpacked, the other stayed in that room with him (also had a booster seat and tray to feed him in there and pnp to sleep). And unpack ASAP. It was INSANE trying to keep him away from the boxes when we weren't in the toy room. So basically we unpacked ALL of our stuff in one day, even if it was just in stacks on the floor, it was better once it was out of boxes and the boxes were removed (save for one or two we kept for him to play with). Good luck!

Pandora, LOVE the pics of Daisy! You seem to do so much fun stuff!

We finally had our allergist appt. today. The dr. said that since Jacks isn't having any hives from the milk, then we should keep him on it (he's had some gas, excess bm's, diaper rash, and runny nose, so I've been a bit worried). We are keeping him on his allergy meds for now as well, although he said we can try taking him off one, but last time we did his nose ran like a faucet, so I have a feeling he'll be on them for a while. And he also ordered a test to test for peanuts and dust mites, so I'm excited to get the results of those.

 

[ChinaCat]

Blen- Are you just moving houses? Good luck with the move!

Sabine- Fingers crossed for NO peanut allergy! I was so excited to give O peanut butter, and he likes it fine, but is not as into it as I thought he would be. Not sure what I expected!

Pandy- That Daisy just kills me. She's like a living doll. She just looks so bright, there is something about that girl! Congrats on all of your stuff lately.

AFM- We took O back West for a trip to see DH's family and my BF and her daughter. It was fun, but man is traveling with a toddler exhausting. The flights were actually fine. He's pretty content to play in our laps and play with the window shade so wasn't a nightmare at all. But we stayed with my BF and trying to manage two toddlers with different nap/eating/bedtime schedules was definitely interesting. I think the time difference is the hardest part for me. O was up at 4:30 am the first day. By the end, he was on a 6 pm to 6 am schedule, thankfully. It was fun and he is still pretty easy with strangers so DH's family had a blast getting to play with him. He saw the ocean for the first time, which was pretty cool.

Other than that, no news really. Not sure if he's trying to go to one nap or not. He usually refuses to nap in the afternoon for me, but still takes his afternoon nap with the nanny, so I'm not pushing it yet. Operation Fatten Up O is going fine, he eats like a college kid. My BF was amazed at how much he ate compared to her daughter, who of course is like in the 90th percentiles. So genetics it is.

Transitioned to milk pretty easily. Now I guess we need to phase out the bottle. He isn't really attached to it, but it's the easiest way for me to make sure he's drinking enough.

He's trying to run now so lots of falling down these days.

Oh, I was thinking about something the other day about how moms describe their kids. I am pretty reserved with what I say O is doing. For example, if you asked me when O walked, I say a week after his first birthday. But a friend of mine said her son "walked" when he took 6 steps, though he's still mostly crawling. For me, he "walked" when he started walking full time. If I went by "steps", then he walked 2 weeks before his first birthday.

The reason I am thinking of this is when my dr asked if O is doing things yet, I say no unless he is full fledged doing something. So I don't think O has "words" yet, but most everyone else considers what O says to be words. So maybe I need to give the little guy more credit?

I know it's all perspective and it doesn't matter, but I just found it interesting that she and I had such different interpretations of things.

ETA: D'oh! I just realized Blen was talking about this very thing earlier. FWIW, I think "gock" is a word.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

There is NO way I can catch up but I wanted to let all my favorite mamas to know we are alive! Life is busy in the Tacori house. T is in daycare 2 days, preschool 3 mornings. She seems to be going through another attachment/fear of abandonment phase. She truly believes I will not pick her up when school is over Heartbreaking. She is in full on princess/fairy mode. T is 100% girl for sure.

I am busy with school. I am taking three classes. I have started to plan her 3rd b-day party. Guess I have to leave this thread soon I CANNOT believe I will have a 3 year old. It's pretty cool she can "help" plan her party this year and even told me what she wants to be for halloween. Makes life a little easier but it does kinda suck releasing control

Hope everyone is happy and healthy!

 

[PenelopeJane]

Pandora, those pictures are just lovely! D looks so adventurous. Ditto everyone on just keeping the drawing stuff in a drawer/box and supervising. I know it happens though, when you're not looking for a second. At age FOUR, I thought P could be trusted to color and draw without me being eagle-hawk eye. Come to find, one day I discovered on her closet doors the words "DRESS UP ONLY" and "fire door, do not block" and on a wall to the kitchen with an arrow/knife pointing to "COOK only" I was kinda mad, but couldn't help but laugh and be impressed that she spelled all the words correctly. hahaha!

MrsS, glad to hear things are going well and that Jake loves preschool! I hear ya on life being busy and I only have 2!

Blen, good luck on the transition!! I like Sabine's advice.

Sabine, I hope there are no allergies. P was allergic to peanuts at 12 months. I had no idea you weren't supposed to give a 1 year old peanut butter and made her a PBJ sandwich to which she immediately broke out in hives, eyes swollen almost shut...needless to say, it was ridiculously scary. Luckily some benedryl from the doc fixed everything. We got her tested to find out the severity and on a scale of 0-6 she was a 1, thank goodness. By age 3, she outgrew it completely and ironically her fav thing to snack on are peanuts!

China, that's a successful trip to me! And sounds like O is doing great, don't be concerned about the weight issue esp since he's eating like a linebacker!...it's so hard not to worry though huh??

Tacori, sounds like T is in pretty pretty princess mode! Enjoy it before she turns into a total tween. That's how I describe P these days. Good luck with classes, I can only imagine how busy it is between T and school.

My friend is schedule to be induced tomorrow morning! So if all goes as planned, she should have the baby by tomorrow night. I CANNOT wait to hold a teeny tiny newborn in my arms. Then on Saturday we're going to our friend's 4 year old's b-day party. These friends had a baby last Wed, so 2 babies in 2 days for me to dote on. Yeah! Sept is full of b-days for us...MIL, DH's 3 cousins, etc. Guess everyone was bored around the holidays!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Pandora, lovely photos. I have ALWAYS told T "paper only" when coloring. When she draws on the wall I discipline her and remind her paper only. Also I ONLY use washable products.

PJ, many of my classmates have several children. Can't imagine how they do it but it is worth the sacrifice. Tween...*shudder* Hopefully I have a while before that starts. Congrats to your friend! Should like you have a busy month!

 

[ChinaCat]

Tacori- I am SURE that none of us would mind if you stuck around these parts even after T turns 3! I very much value your advice and your posts, and would be sad to not hear updates on you and Tessa. Just saying!

I posted this on a stroller thread, but not sure it's getting read since the thread had pretty much died:

We have a BOB that I love.

We inherited a Maclaren, but it's like 8 years old and just doesn't work like I want it too. So I need to pick up a lightweight umbrella stroller. I know everyone recommends the Volo but I am looking at other options.

So here are my finds:

Uppababy G-Luxe
http://www.amazon.com/UPPAbaby-0061HM-DNY-G-Luxe-Stroller-Denny/dp/B003OBU0KM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1284655987&sr=1-1

Baby Jogger City Micro
http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=18397

Things that I am looking for: easy open/close, big canopy, comfy, not ugly.

Anyone have any thoughts on these strollers?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

China, you are so sweet. I have to Volo, which I love. I can fold and carry it with one hand. That comes in handy b/c we do a lot of air travel by myself. Why don't you like the other Mac? Can you go somewhere to push/fold/lift the ones you are interested in?

 

[Jas12]

Hi guys

can't keep up with is (or any) thread any longer....maybe when i go back to work next year.

Pandora--beautiful Daisy pictures. She is such a pretty girl

Sabine--hope there is no peanut allergy. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to deal with a serious allergy

Tacori--what is tessa's b-day theme this year?

DD-- Co is 29 mos. I didn't have a homebirth with Kate as planned (we were worried about some ultrasound findings so although the pedi and midwife still gave me the go-ahead, i opted for hospital just in case). But i had a natural birth at the hospital (with my 2 midwives) and was discharged and back at home under their care within 4 hours of delivery, so it was as close to my original plan as possible. Very hard delivery however. Much worse than with Cohen!


Co is doing well. He has been dry at night for over a week now! Yay!
he was doing this weird thing where he was not pooping for a few days. Very odd and he was really sick with a belly ache b/c of it. Apparently it's common when kids get potty trained. He prefers to poop standing, so i think the transition to the toilet was odd for him. I remember reading in a bio book about natural positions for BMs and sitting is not really natural (the squat or stand, like kids do behind a chair etc. is better) so i think that has something to do with it. Anyway, we seem to be back on track today, but it was annoying and concerning. I had to load the kid up on prunes so he had no choice!

What are the toddlers being for Halloween? Co is already gearing up. He is going to be a black and white cat and Kate is going to be a kitten (black and white too) i got some pretty cute costumes for them so i am excited

 

[Burk]

Hi everyone!!! Long time, no see. I miss you all dearly but just don't have the time right now to even read PS. I'm teaching until 11:40am everyday then get the kids home, play, down for naps (at which time I either do more work or work out) then I'm off to volleyball practice for a couple hours, come home and do dinner, baths, bed and by that time I'm exhausted. Hopefully once volleyball season is over I'll be able to keep up better!

I tried to browse the last few pages really quick and saw some adorable pics! Such cute toddlers we have here!

Quick Tayva update. She's doing great! She's been potty trained since June. She started in a new class at her school in August. They skipped her up to be with the 3 an 4 year-olds (she's 2.5) which I was not on board with but the director asked me to give it a try and it's actually going great. Tayva is doing awesome and learning so much (she knows the days of the week, weather, along with a ton of other stuff that amazes me!). She loves her little brother and looks forward to coming to my volleyball games (she loves to play with my girls and watch the games). Other than that, next weekend we are doing the binky fairy to get rid of the darn things. It's been a long time coming and we've waited longer than we wanted, but with so many changes in her life (brother, moving, ect) I just couldn't take that away from her. I know it'll be rough but we have a plan I think. Anyone else still working on de-binkying? Thoughts? Advice?

Hope you're all doing great!! Love the pics, please keep posting!

 

[mrssalvo]

tacori-i hope you'll stick around too. this thread isn't super busy so I don't really think we need to split again. i love all the T updates.

jas12- yay for cohen being potty trained. jake is still back and forth. some days he'll do it, others he wants a diaper. I still have to ask him if we needs to go if he's in big boy underware b/c he rarely will come and tell me ahead of time. glad kate is doing well too! I can't wait to see them dressed up for Halloween.

burk-your schedule sounds close to mine!! sounds like life is full but good with 2. I'm so glad Tayva has adjusted to school and being a big sister. my sister is getting ready to de-binky her 2.5 year old. she's having an angel fairy come and take the binky's but the fairy will leaving a new princess gown with shoes and a crown. When we took them from C it was hard but we just did it cold turkey. She asked for it for a few nights but eventually just stopped.

 

[Shoopy]

I'm glad you ladies are sharing your experiences with potty training. I'm making note of it for the future.

I hope no one decides to leave all together once LO hits 36 months. I like the variety of ages and love hearing what's to come. Sophia is almost 15 months and it's so weird to think that she'll start being vocal about choices like costumes and birthday parties this time next year. She seems like such a baby to me!

Burk-that teaching schedule sounds kind of great to me! You get to be home early!

Hope everyone is doing well. Things are good here. Sophia is walking a lot and got her first walking scrapes chasing after my friends great dane. Not sure what she thought she would do after she caught up to him. Food is still a challenge since she's really picky. As soon as she bites into something she doesn't like, meal time is over. Very frustrating.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Tacori Stick around, this thread is certainly not busy enough for another revolutionary split, I think

 

[TravelingGal]

Hey toddler mamas!

Pandora, lovely pics of daisy! My advice would mirror Dreamers and Tacori's. Now I can leave the crayons out and she'll just ask me for paper.

Good to see all of you and read updates. I haven't been good at keeping up with this thread either. Not because Amelia keeps me busy, but I find there isn't much to share about a 2.5 year old! Love reading the updates though. Burk, I didn't know that T was potty trained! I'll have to ping you offline as I think I'm going to start in the next two weeks.

All is good in the land of Amelia. She's quite the talker now, and says some funny things. The second year is still fun in my book, but I'm still scared of threes!

 

[lili]

Great pictures Pandora!
Daisy is a firecracker.
She's so cute and small next to you ^.^

Tacori, can't believe MsT is going to be 3 already.
Too cute that she's taking more control of planning her party.

Jas, for PT. We are far from it. We actually regressed the last couple of months since we were trying to cut her wake-up, sleep, and bath routine because sometimes she just sits on the toilet for 15 minutes stalling bedtime.

Burk, for PT too and for T doing so well w/ the upper class.

PJ, your P is one smart cookie -- reading and writing before she even starts kindergarten.

TGal, welcome back. Hope you guys had a great time in HI.
Any great pictures to share w/ us?
Good luck w/ PT. I'm sure A will be PT within a week.

Puffy, how are you doing over there?
You are superwoman for sure....handling a pre-schooler, soon-to-be toddler and baking one in the oven ^.^

-----
Hi to everyone else who i missed.

 

[puffy]

hi mommies!!!

just wanted to pop in really quick and say that all the kiddies are too cute!! love all the pics.

things are chugging along here...B is still B as crazy and funny as ever, a great big brother who loves to hold his little brother's hand to help him walk. N is quite the mover and shaker. he'll be 9 months this week and he's already taken a few steps. i think he actually look about 10 steps at once yesterday. he was so proud of himself and B was cheering him on the entire way. it was way too cute!

hope everyone is doing well.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Jas12, PRINCESSES of course! She wants all things girlie. She also decided to be a fairy godmother for halloween.

Burk, I have a binkioholic too. No advice, just empathy.

MrsS & D, I don't think we need another split either. I just thought it was funny I just noticed that I was going to have a 36 monther soon.

TGal, I think 3s are going to be worst than 2s. Yay for talking. I love having conversations with T. Kids are so funny.

Lili, oh, she is picking out everything. Haha. The only difficult thing is she doesn't understand time. If we talk about her party she thinks we are going to is NOW. Very frustrating for her.

Puffy, yay for N walking! I love those first wobbly steps.

fiery, I am surprised kids survive. All the scraps, bumps, blood...it is scary even now sometimes. Hope she starts eating more.

 

[Burk]

Hey mommies! We have parent-teacher conferences today so I think I'll probably have time to get better caught up during those (since I only teach PT I don't see a lot of parents) but until then....

mrss~Are you liking your schedule? I like the mornings (last year I was afternoon) for the most part but getting up early is hard for me! Hope your sister is able to de-binky with little drama. We're doing the binky fairy this Friday. I need to get to the mall and pick out her princess shoes she wants for a prize....crossing my fingers!

Fiery~Yes, my schedule is very nice. Somehow even though I'm home a better part of the day I still feel like I can never get anything accomplished! Hope meal time gets better for you guys!

Tgal~I bet Amelia will do great with potty training. I'll help any way I can but we didn't really do much since T was pretty much "ready" for a year before she decided she was ready....she was dry at night, dry at naps, ect.

lili~Hey there lady!! How are you? I haven't seen any great videos of Miss J lately!

Puffy~Go Noah!! K was an early crawler and I'm pretty sure he'll be an early walker too...fun, but so much work!

Tacori~Nice to have someone who understands the binky addiction! Do you have a plan on how you're going to get rid of it? We have been talking about the Binky Fairy for a while and T is not happy and tells me the Fairy cannot have her binkies and that babies don't need them like she does. Could be interesting this Friday!