November 2003 - January 2004 Kids [Archive]

JRose

12-14-2005, 03:17 PM

I'll join up but only if Nancy is let in ;) And where is K? And Jen and all the rest of us with new(-to-be) 2yr olds? :D

We just set up and used a bed for the first time last night. Disaster. Oh, he loves his new bed, but refuses to sleep cuz it's so cool. Naptime was better today but only because I slept with him.

Please tell me someone else has already made the transition and can help!

nancy drew

12-14-2005, 04:17 PM

Naptime was better today but only because I slept with him.
so thats where you were. got it. :)

dzmattie

12-14-2005, 05:42 PM

DS is born 1/15/04 - so I am in!! :)

Here is where we are -

- Still sleeping in his crib - we had an issue at 19 months where he jumped out - we bought a new crib that had higher sides and all has been well since.
- STTN - he does *most* of the time - meaning he wakes up lately b/c he has an ear infection. He still wakes up early which we are trying to work on.
- Eating - he is extremely picky lately. Could be b/c he is sick...
- Talking - he is a chatter box - he is so much fun to talk to and is getting to the point where we can actually have a conversation - kind of! It is really fun to hear him mimic things.
- Biting - he bit me three times today - b/c he is sick?? Ugh - time outs aren't working - he laughs at me. This is really frustrating...
- Activity - he is very fun and loves his toys - he is very good at playing by himself and with other kids.

I will try to think of some more updates....

jewamese

12-14-2005, 09:50 PM

Taya is an early March 2004 baby. Are we stretching? Can we join, please? :)

maggieb

12-15-2005, 06:37 AM

Oooh I'm joining. Helena was born in Dec 2003. Not much time to post as we're headed to a birthday party in a few minutes, but will try to be back later tonight or during naptime to update and read about you guys.

shortcake

12-15-2005, 08:03 AM

Hi maggie! I remember you and cutie pie Helena!

jewamese - the more the merrier!!

bed v. crib
We are still very happy in the crib. With #2 coming in May, I'm not sure if I want to try to transition her soon after that (we'll use a bassinet at first) or wait till she's nearly three and just get a second crib (I think I could find one used) for a few months. I don't think we'll try to do it before the baby comes, as that's just one more thing to deal with then. (Same goes for potty training - unless she seems super ready we won't be pushing it!)

talking
Gabrielle is mostly doing 2 word phrases...maybe an occasional 3 worder. Definitely not full sentences like some of her friends yet, but apparently they are just super verbal. It IS a lot of fun to talk to her now, as sometimes she can actually tell you about something that happened, etc. And she loves to sing! She's so cute singing her ABCs..."H-I-H-I-ELMOELMO-P!" (Instead of H I J K L M N O P)

lauren f s

12-15-2005, 08:41 AM

I'd like to join!

Ava turns 2 tomorrow. She was moved to a bed a few weeks ago and has done really well with the transition. We started with the mattress on the floor for about a week, then went to her bed. She suprised me by how well she adjusted. I was convinced she wouldn't lie down and go to sleep, but sure enough after reading a couple of books she lies down and goes to sleep without getting up.

Talking: she never stops! Seriously, people have asked me if "she's always like this", meaning always talking. She talks pretty well. I'd say we understand most of what she says, though she still goes off on tangents where we just nod our heads like we know what she's saying! DH just taught her counting and she can go from 1-6, though sometimes she does skip 3. ;)

Manners: Anyone else working on this? Ava is very good about saying thank you anytime she gets something and she'll almost always say "your welcome" when we tell her thank you. We usually have to prompt her to say please, but she will do it. Last night she started saying "excuse me" to get past me in the kitchen. DH and I just keep trying to be super polite, saying all those things to one another and it seems to be helping her to pick up on it.

JRose

12-15-2005, 10:59 AM

Bedtime went much more smoothly last night. No tears from either of us ;) and I just got him down for a nap in a record 7 minutes--he was out before his music ended and I just slipped out of the room! We traded the crib in for the bed because in August he stopped STTN AND napping. He would wake up crying and refuse to go back into the crib. He is a super mover in his sleep and I think he just plain ran outta room.

Talking--He is a great mimic and has his own little vocab. A few 2 word phrases--mostly Blues Clues ;)

Manners-He is very good about saying or signing please and thank you. And he knows that if I give him the evil eye he needs to say please before just demanding something.

Playing-he would still much rather play with me than with toys or by himself. I am going to be babysitting 2 other toddlers in a few weeks and so it will be interesting to see. He has no problem sharing so at least I won't be worrying about that!

We haven't been attempting potty training yet. He will tell us when he has to go and he is interested in the toilet-especially when I'm on it. I figure that will be the next big thing to tackle.

How are the other toddlers reacting to the snow?? Owen would spend all day outside if I let him.

emermel

12-15-2005, 02:44 PM

Can we join too? Maya will be 2 on 1/17 and is acting like it! I thought having a newborn was tough...having a 2 year old is harder!

nancy drew

12-15-2005, 07:59 PM

talking still working on it. she talks, but no one understands her. early intervention is coming on monday to evaluate her. she has a ton of signs, and understands everything we say, follows commands, and "communicates" just fine, but her spoken vocab is not what it should be, IMHO.

bed vs crib still in the crib, will be for a while. partly due to a ton of transitions: new baby, new house (coming in about 3 weeks), etc. partly due to the fact that im not ready for her to get up and run out of bed (i know it may not happen, but i prepare for the worst).

manners actually one of the words she uses most often, and almost every time someone gives her something, or when she gives you something, is "thank you". "please" needs some work, still.

***
shortcake congrats on your upcoming addition! we recently went through the "new baby" transition and it went so well. stella is a very independent kid, always has been, and she doesnt mind sharing her mommy. i read her a great book by joanna cole called "im the big sister", and i named all the characters according to our family (big sister was called stella, baby was called nathan, etc.) and we talked about the baby. i have no idea how much of that sank in, because she was 19.5 months old when he was born, but really it has gone extremely well. it certainly helps that he slept almost 24/7 the first 3 weeks he was home, so she had some time to adjust and learn about sharing her mommy. now she loves helping me. today she helped at bathtime. she climbs in the gymini with him and says "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee" right in his face. and he loves it. she tries to give him pacifiers and toys, too. im happy to answer any questions about it, even though i know its differen for everyone. for *me* the hardest part has been the lack of sleep (see my post in parenting). but even that seems to be looking up in some ways.

jess how did bedtime go tonight?

shortcake

12-16-2005, 07:37 AM

nancy drew - I saw your post in parenting - it freaked me out a little!! Gabrielle was a terrible sleeper. But I'm glad to hear that other than the sleep, it's been good. :) You sound really happy with it! Stella sounds like a great big sister. As for Stella's talking - sounds like she understands communication, and I'm sure that's the biggest issue. As my ped said - pronounciation comes later! But that's great that you have someone coming out to check on her, you can see if there's anything you can do to help her along, since it must be quite frustrating to not be understood!

manners Gabrielle says "thank you! your welcome!" together, as one phrase. So she kind of gets it but not quite - it's pretty cute!

shortcake

12-17-2005, 01:02 PM

jrose -Forgot to say glad betime went better the other night! How was last night?

We had a rough night. We've started letting Gabrielle have a sippy of water in her crib, and last night she was up about 5 times asking for water...but it was right there and not empty! I figured out she was manipulating us, but didn't know what to do. I guess maybe the water is a bad thing - but we really wanted to be sure she stayed hydrated since sometimes she doesn't drink enough during the day.

Here's a QOTD -
Phen posted in another thread about her nephew who had a really bad accident with a hot iron. I asked this question in there, but figured that wasn't really the place to ask it so here is a better spot: what do you guys do with your toddler when you are showering? I occasionally "trap" DD (2 years old) in the bathroom with me, but most of the time I let her roam free - otherwise she's very unhappy and my shower is much less pleasant! Any suggestions? Having her actually shower with me isn't an option (she's scared of it). Thanks!

nancy drew

12-17-2005, 03:40 PM

shortcake i was thinking about giving stella a cup of water for the crib, as "drink" is the first sign i see when i get her in the morning and after naps. i have no suggestions on how to make that situation any better for you guys but i had been wondering if anyone else did that so im glad to see that you do.

qotd: i usually keep stella in the bathroom with me. i have a basket of toys and books for her in there that she usually plays with. i did let her stay in the bedroom a few times while i had the bathroom doors open (bathroom is in the bedroom) but i never felt truly safe doing that.

shortcake

12-17-2005, 04:17 PM

nancy drew - yeah I've lately been keeping her in the bedroom (door closed) with the bathroom door open, which is at least better than roaming the house. Our bathroom is way too small for much in the way of toys - it's tiny. And I wonder what will happen when they can open doorknobs, anyway!

JRose

12-17-2005, 06:49 PM

Bedtime is going along smoothly, minus the fact that he is now sick, so actual sleeping is rough! But thanks for asking!

And I wonder what will happen when they can open doorknobs, anyway!
I'm sorry, but this made me laugh :D Owen has been opening doorknobs for 8-9 months now. We just had to install a chain lock on the front door to the house because he can open the knob lock and the deadbolt. I kept finding him outside, in his PJs when I would let the dog out in the morning. Not safe for winter in WI. Well,not safe in general ;)

If I am home by myself I usually don't shower. I try putting him in the shower with me but he hates it and gets cold fast. Usually I just smell. :p

julifromjersey

12-22-2005, 08:52 AM

Hi everyone... can I join?

shortcake

12-22-2005, 09:23 AM

Jrose - Ok you're right - some of them are probably pros at doorknobs already! Mine is short, so she can't quite get a good grip on them yet, even though I can see she understands how they work. :)

Julifromjersey - hi! Welcome!

jewamese

12-22-2005, 03:29 PM

talking--Taya doesn't talk much at all. But, atleast at 21 months, she's FINALLY trying to. She never mimicked us before, but is atleast starting to now. It cracks us up bc it usually doesn't sound anything like what we said. I, sometimes, don't know what to think about that. As far as early intervention goes, how do you get on board? We have discussed speech w/ our pediatrician, but she's always blown us off until Taya is 2 years old. We haven't seen her since T was 17 mos. I know 2 is not far away, but I want to do something now.

manners--Taya will sign "please" but a really fast sloppy slap across her chest as if saying "puh-lease!" :rolleyes: And, she signs "thank you" if you ask her to. It's definitely not about being nice & polite. More like, "Here is my circus trick. Can I have the cookie now?"

bed vs crib--I want to keep Taya in her crib 'til she's like five years old. :) I really don't see her being ready anytime soon. She's a big time mover. She traverses her crib and sleeps crammed in the short width of the bed. I don't see how she can ever be ready for a bed. :p

QOTD--I usually wait 'til afternoon nap to take my shower. I know...gross, but hey...better than not. :p My kid is rawther needy. Sometimes, I'm able to run upstairs and take a quick shower. I make sure that there's nothing she can get into first. If I MUST shower in the morning, I ask my husband to wait a few mins before leaving for work so that I can squeeze a shower in while he entertains T.

shortcake

12-22-2005, 03:46 PM

nancy drew -I had been meaning to ask how the appointment went on monday with the early intervention folks?

nancy drew

12-22-2005, 07:45 PM

juli hey there! welcome :)

jewamese stella does that "please" sign too. really really impatient wiping of the chest when urged to say please. ah, drama girls :) i asked my ped about stellas speech and he referred me to early intervention. you might call yours and ask for the EI phone number, then you call EI and set something up. thats how we did it.

shortcake it went well, thanks for asking. they said she has a delay (duh!) but not enough to warrant services. so thats good and bad, i guess. good that she isnt as far behind as i thought but bad that they arent going to help her catch up. they did give me a few ideas on what to do, and said to call them again after a few months if there isnt any improvement. hopefully she will have this "verbal explosion" that so many kids seem to have and we wont have to call.

Lolavix

12-22-2005, 11:28 PM

I'm going to join as well. It's fun to see so many familiar names over here.

Caroline turned 2 three weeks ago, but I swear, she was practicing for 2 since about 18 months. ;)

Talking--It appears a lot of us are in the same boat. Early Intervention is coming for an eval. on Jan. 9. We saw a speech pathologist at our HMO and she agreed with us that there is a delay. Caroline obviously understands a lot and can identify a lot of her letters, numbers, animals, colors, shapes in books, but she doesn't say them at all.

Bed--Still in a crib. No complaints from her. We'll transition her to a bed in the spring, in plenty of time before Baby #2 arrives in late June/early July.

dziner

12-23-2005, 11:17 AM

It is really nice to hear how everyone is doing after all this time.

Ava turns two this Tuesday, and we also have a one-month old. I am having a REALLY hard time managing, mostly b/c Ava has been acting up. Obviously there are changes b/w the new baby (Dean) and the fact that she moved into a bed last weekend, but I really believe the cause is the fact that DH was home for three weeks and she got so much attention and now he's back at work. She's constantly pleading for him to stay in her room at bedtime and throws a fit at naptime as well, in addition to various tantrums during the day when she gets tired from not sleeping enough! We HAVE to get this under control or Mommy is seriously going to jump off a bridge into the Potomac. :rolleyes:

All that aside, we had Ava's 2 year appt today and it went well. She's still tiny, 5% weight, 10% height, but is very precocious and chatty. She speaks in basically full sentences or something like a foreigner would do. She remembers phrases and melodies from songs and books like you would not believe! She is definitely our verbal/fine motor skills kid as she is not doing much climbing, stair walking, etc. Kind of like her mommy.

JRose

12-23-2005, 11:36 AM

shortcake~ I didn't mean it to be rude. It's just my guy is a shorty and so I take it for granted that other kids can reach the doorknobs. If his short butt can ;)

The bed transition isn't going all that great. It didn't help that he got sick right after we put it up. Over the holidays we are going to crack down on me not needing to be there while he falls asleep. That way DH will be home to help for once and he will finally be feeling better. Nothing like a sick toddler to make everyone's days a little longer ;)

dziner~ Nice to see you around here! Welcome to Dean :D Hopefully Ava lets you get some rest soon.

shortcake

12-23-2005, 11:47 AM

Hi dziner! Glad to hear Ava is doing great. She and Gabrielle seem to be kindred spirits - tiny little munchkins who are not into climbing or stairs! Gabrielle still cannot climb onto the couch (though she is close - she can now climb onto the chair in her room which is lower) and crawls up the stairs and "sits" down them. She loves singing songs! She's not doing full sentences yet but her verbal skills have really jumped lately (I think b/c she finally got comfortable walking - she didn't take a step till age 17 months so she was focused on that for a while). Oh and congrats on baby Dean!!

nancy drew - I'm glad to hear they are not worried about her! I'm sure she'll catch up and you'll never know the difference once she is a little older. Glad they gave you some things to do in the meantime.

jrose - no worries! As you can see from what I wrote about climbing, Gabrielle tends to be slower at the physical stuff, doorknobs included. I wasn't offended!

ellybelle

01-04-2006, 09:05 PM

Hi All! I think I "know" most of you. For those that don't know me, Sofi turned 2 on November 26. I'm turning 41 on January 25 :eek: , so I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest (though not wisest!) one here.

Things are going pretty well right now -- we seem to be entering a calmer phase overall. My only (minor) frustration is that weaning from the breast seems so far away. I wouldn't mind nursing her a couple times a day, but she usually demands to nurse 4-5 times a day when we're at home, and won't be put off. I'm all for extended nursing, but honestly, I really don't want to be nursing her until she's 4! Any suggestions for info on gentle mother-led weaning?

dziner Congrats on your new arrival! Welcome to Dean! Hope he's the "easy" one -- goodness knows you can use a break. Hopefully Ava will adjust soon.

crib to bed transition Honestly, since DD isn't climbing out of her crib yet, I'm in no hurry. I'm dreading the midnight visits. Maybe if/when I get pregnant....

talking We had a talking "explosion" around here at around 24 months, just when I was starting to wonder. She went from 1-2 word utterances to 2-4 word "sentences." It's nice knowing what's going on with her, though when she's in a bad mood and tells mommy and daddy "no talking!" I think I'm starting to miss the days she couldn't talk! :rolleyes:

shower I shower whenever I can. We have a clear glass door shower, so I can put her in the bathroom with a toy or two and get a 3 minute shower, but if I want a more leisurely one, I have to wait till naptime or after bedtime.

QOTD -- Potty training Have you started yet, and if so, how's it going? I had been trying to interest Sofi in the potty for the last month, but not pushing it, since she didn't seem that interested. Today I picked up the "Once Upon a Potty" video and showed it to Sofi, and I was amazed when she decided she would go peepee on her potty and succeeded! Of course, now, I'm scrambling to figure out how to proceed. I guess it's time to start looking at training pants and plastic covers.

shortcake

01-05-2006, 06:51 AM

Hi Elly! Good to see you!

QOTD potty training
Gabrielle loves to come sit on the potty when we are going, but only WITH all her clothes on. No interest (or really even a connection) with when she needs to go. She's had some issues with constipation and so I am not pushing it at all, I'll wait till she shows interest. Plus with a baby coming in May, I figure we can start sometime after that (if she's not interested sooner) since most kids I know have regressed when #2 arrives anyway.

kadee_29

02-26-2006, 06:53 PM

Bumping this up. I had no idea this thread existed. Thanks a lot Jess. :p

Noah turned 2 on November 5. He isn't talking too much. He has his "sissy" to do it for him. :rolleyes:

How is everyone else doing??

nancy drew

02-26-2006, 08:44 PM

hey there!!! congrats, k!!! holy cow!!! good to see you over here. s doesnt talk much either. i guess our children dont take after us in that respect, eh? ;) they could probably type 600 words a minute though, if they could only spell...

kadee_29

02-27-2006, 05:32 AM

Hey N!! Thanks. :o

Our children definitely don't take after us. LoL Noah does like to sit down at the computer but like you said....if only they could spell.

JRose

02-27-2006, 05:49 AM

Dude--I know I told you. You just don't listen to me :p ;)

O talks enough for S and N. Like right now: "Owen egg. Owen bacon. Up dad. Nooooooo, Owen do it. Momma! Dad bacon! Eggs! Oops, Opey (sophie the cat) eat it!"

Yeah, it's breakfast time around here. Why he needs to refer to himself in the third person, I have no idea. I think I liked it better before he could talk :p

But I do have a serious question for those whose kids are talking--sometimes when O gets anxious-usually at bedtime, he will start repeating the same phrase over and over and over. Sometimes he stops when I reply, othertimes he just keeps going. Anyone else dealing with this? And to clarify, it's not the same phrase every time

gotta go, all done momma!

kadee_29

02-27-2006, 06:09 AM

Why he needs to refer to himself in the third person, I have no idea. At least he knows his name. Noah calls himself "baby" all the time.

As far as repeating things, K still does this. I literally have to look her in the eye and respond to her for everything she says or she will keep saying it until I respond. Over and over and over and over again. Drives me nuts. I know that didn't help you, just wanted to say you aren't alone. ;)

JRose

02-27-2006, 06:38 AM

At least now Noah will know what to call Baby when he/she arrives :D

I'm glad to hear that K still does it. Looking him in the eye works during the day, but at night I usually have to take him on my lap and completely distract him with neck kisses or something equally icky ;)

shortcake

02-27-2006, 06:40 AM

Hi! Thanks for bumping this up!

Talking I'm glad to hear others aren't talking a ton yet. I sometimes feel like I must not talk to her enough! She's very content to play on her own a lot during the day, and maybe I don't jump in and talk to her then because I use that time for other stuff. But a lot of her friends are using full sentences already, which makes me feel like she is behind. As for using the 3rd person, I think that's normal before they figure out pronouns. Oh and she repeats things till I answer, too - like "want chocolate milk" over and over and over while she is in her crib and we have told her that she only gets water at bedtime! (She calls pretty much all milk chocolate milk - occasionally it's actually chocolate but usually not!)

nancy drew

02-27-2006, 06:58 AM

stella really has so few words that i wouldnt know if she is repeating the same thing over and over, it all sounds like garbage to me. though the other day she did say "houth" about 15 times until she finally came up with "noo houth", so im guessing she was trying to tell me that we live in a new house but it took her a while to put the two words together since she doesnt really do that on a regular basis? she also did that with "bat" (bath). i was busy getting n ready for his bath and wasnt paying 100% attention to stella, and i realized she had said "bat" about 20 times in a row. it was a new word for her, and that finally dawned on me, so i turned and did the whole happy dance thing i do when she learns new words and she stopped saying it completely. she hasnt said it since that night.

so that is probably not helpful at all but at least it looks like its normal behavior. oh, she does say "whats that?" about 10,000,000 times a day. but i think thats different than what youre talking about.

shortcake

02-27-2006, 07:02 AM

Nancy drew - it's funny, because G doesn't ask "what's that" at all! You'd think she would. I bet Stella is taking it all in and is about to explode with words.

nancy drew

02-27-2006, 07:24 AM

"whats that?" was one of her first "words". she sort of says "wassat?" gosh i hope she just explodes with words. everyone keeps telling me she will, but they have been saying that for 6 months and we are still only getting a few. hopefully a speech therapist will be available soon to work with her and get her to talk. (I had her reevaluated where we moved and they determined she is eligible for services, but there is a shortage of therapists so no one can take her now. lovely.)