October 05 moms - You mean we have TODDLERS? But where did our babies go? [Archive] - Page 3

godsgift77

11-02-2006, 11:26 PM

OMG Lisa I am so sorry to hear about your grandparents! {{{HUGS}}} I'll continue to keep your family in our thoughts and prayers.

Carseat - CJ has been forward facing since his birthday and LOVES it. He was 23lbs and 31 inches at his 12mo appt and his little feet were crunched so we flipped him around...

Bottles - *SIGH* we are down to two a day now -- one nap and one bedtime... i am not sure if i will do the bedtime bottle with baby #2 because i can't figure out how CJ will kick the habit... He eats VERY well and doesnt need it for nourishment but he wants it for comfort.

DianeCourt

11-03-2006, 06:26 AM

Walking: DD is SO not interested in walking yet. Not even CLOSE to taking any steps! She's happy to crawl & cruise everywhere for now. I'm not worried at all, and I know it'll happen when she's ready. I just get so sick of everybody asking "Is she walking yet? She should be walking by the time she's one!" Um, no, actually she should walk sometime in the next 6 months and she would still be perfectly normal! :rolleyes:

jenjen0713

11-03-2006, 06:15 PM

Walking - DS isn't interested in anything besides cruising the furniture. It is annoying to have the ILs compare him to their other grandchildren! :rolleyes:

We had our u/s today and found out we are having another little boy! We were both shocked as we both thought it was a girl. I'm so excited to be having another little boy! :D

amtaylor

11-03-2006, 06:32 PM

I haven't posted in a while since I figure most of you are on LJ anyway. If you are and we aren't "friends," I'm atcrossman :)

Mackenzie's been doing great. She was 21lbs 3 oz and 29.5 inches at her one year appointment.

Sippy Cups: We've been totally on cups starting a few weeks before her birthday. She's also been drinking only whole milk since ~11 months

Car Seat: We turned her around a few days after her first birthday and she LOVES it.

Teeth: We are working on tooth #4 & 5 and they are giving us one heck of a time :( I just spent the last 30 minutes trying to sooth her until the orajel and motrin kicked in.

Walking: She walks about 95% of the time now. It's 50/50 whether she'll walk on her own or holding a single hand. She definitely perfers it over anything and won't ride in a stroller or cart anymore. That makes any shopping we do twice as long!

Since I can't post pictures with snapfish anymore, I just have a video:
Mackenzie Walking (http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=113400&cdate=20061026&ctime=171620)

ETA: Can you see these photos? If they work, you can choose any one of them for the front page
http://www.photoworks.com/servlet/GetThumb;jsessionid=4E6DFE495149DABE2F1BB8108A5873 5A?424686297,300x400,90,0,null&cb=PW&svr=web25http://www.photoworks.com/servlet/GetThumb;jsessionid=4E6DFE495149DABE2F1BB8108A5873 5A?424686310,300x400,90,0,null&cb=PW&svr=web25http://www.photoworks.com/servlet/GetThumb;jsessionid=4E6DFE495149DABE2F1BB8108A5873 5A?424686312,300x400,90,0,null&cb=PW&svr=web25http://www.photoworks.com/servlet/GetThumb;jsessionid=4E6DFE495149DABE2F1BB8108A5873 5A?424686299,300x400,90,0,null&cb=PW&svr=web25

hmbay

11-06-2006, 10:17 AM

Well I spent 3 hours in the ER last night. Alex broke out into hives from his amoxycillian for his ear infection and it got really bad yesterday and he was running a temp around 11pm and everything I read said at that point you need to take them in so I bundled him up and left (the nearest ER is 30 minutes away). They got me into a room right away since I had a baby but there I got to sit and wait with a crabby boy who just wanted to go home and go to bed. They said his ear infection looked gone and said his hives were bad enough I should have taken him into urgent care before the temp (okay all my parenting books were WRONG then). They gave me a perscrition to get filled and I stopped to do that (thank god for 24 hour pharamacies along my drive home) and got home around 3:30 am. Alex slept for 1 hour then was up screaming for 1.5 hours. I think he was just overtired but man that sucked. Then I planned to sleep in until 11 and DH woke me up at 10 to ask when I was getting up. Grrrr. Gonna be a long day.

1_mommy

11-06-2006, 10:37 AM

jenjen- congrats on another little boy! how exciting! :)

hmbay-glad alex is ok! i am allergic to penacillin, i get the same reaction, reallyreally bad hives. maybe you will get lucky today and sneak in a nap!

Kai is growing out of the baby stage into the toddler really quickly :( he comprehends SO much now. if you ask him to do something, he will actually do it, i will tell him, "lets change your diaper" and he goes and lays down in the spot we always change diapers. if he gets ahold of a wipe, he tries to wipe himself
he wants to help me clean, both kids do. so while cleaning they each get a rag and they go around the house doing their own cleaning

cartersmommy

11-06-2006, 11:02 AM

i saw this in your LJ, heather, but man, what a night! hope that you get some rest and alex gets better!!! hugs!

amber... mack is adorable! such cute pics! i love the holiday one!

Carter has turned into a kid, too! it's scary sometimes. this weekend, he saw me wipe my mouth with a napkin at dinner, and he wanted the napkin. so i gave it to him to see what he wanted with it, and he took it and wiped his mouth just as plain as day and was so proud of himself. now he does it ALL.THE.TIME. it's really cute! :) his new thing is holding the phone to his hear and saying in the cutest high pitched voice "hi da!" (hi dad) hes so funny. and it doesn't have to be a real phone. he uses his had just great as a phone too. LOL.

godsgift77

11-06-2006, 10:33 PM

Heather - that HAD to suck! I am suprised your dh survived waking you up! I think i would have killed him! LOL! Hope Alex gets better soon!

CJ is now officially a toddler and VERY independent. he thinks he can do anything by himself and will get mad if you try to help him do anything! Oh boy - this is going to be an interesting toddler-hood :)

Eliezrah

11-07-2006, 06:42 AM

Heather, OMG!!! {{{HUGS}}} How is he now? How are you???? Don't worry about what htey said about going to urgent care, you did the right thing going to the ER... every doc will tell you something different (when Seth got into milk 2 weeks ago and was red and coughing along with hives, 2 peds who were in the lobby where we were said not to give the EpiPen, but when Icalled the allergist, she said I should have used it and gone ot the ER). You do what you know is best!

~~~

Thanks for the hugs and prayers everyone. I'mleaving today to be with my mom for the week and then my surgery is on Friday. I'm hoping ot be back online in full force sometime next week, but who knows....

EJM

11-08-2006, 11:51 AM

jenjen: Congrats on your little boy!!

hmbay

11-08-2006, 12:01 PM

Thanks everyone. Alex is doing better. They gave me a prescription for oral steriods to control the hives. Most of them are gone but he's still itching a little bit.

Kanga

11-09-2006, 11:34 AM

Eliezrah - I hope you all are doing well considering all that has happened to your family as of late.

Sheesh, what's in the water here? Dh just had a reaction to abx he was on as well. I hope Alex is doing better, hmbay!!

I posted earlier that dh had strep and was prescribed abx for it. We had a friend's wedding on Saturday and the next afternoon he was complaining of a bad stomach ache despite not drinking much. We chalked it up to the abx not settling well with the alcohol. Then Monday night after work he came home and said he had been itchy all day. He woke up in the middle of the night that night complaining that his hands felt like they were on fire, and the rest of his body more itchy than normal and his eyes were bloodshot too. He's a wimp when it comes to pain, so he compains about the smallest aches. After getting sick and tired of him keeping me awake I told him he either needed to quit complaining so I could get some sleep, or if it was really bothering him that bad, he needed to call the dr.'s office and find out what was going on. He called and it was a reaction to the abx so now he's on steroids and an antihistomine to combat that. On top of that the dr. said his throat was still much more raw than it should be so he rx a different. antibiotic. He's finally starting to feel back to normal.

I asked dh when he got back if the dr. said it was a normal reaction or a fluke, and he said yes it happens quite a bit with that particular abx. So then I asked him how common reactions are to the one he's on now and what he should look out for. He said "I don't know, I didn't think to ask." Men:rolleyes:

This afternoon we have our big u/s!! I really hope he/she cooperates. I think it's a boy. Dh tells everybody he thinks it's a boy as well, but he tells me he thinks it's a girl sometimes and a boy other times.:confused: There must not be any such thing as 'father's intuition.'

Michelle and Curtis

11-11-2006, 08:57 PM

Everything here has been great! Kids are doing very well. They just had their yearly check-ups. Here are their stats!

Skylar
Weight: 38lbs.
Height: 39-1/2"
Head: 49cm.

Axel
Weight: 23lbs.
Height: 31-1/2"
Head: 49cm.

Both boys are very big for their age. Skylar is doing pretty good although he will need to be tested for allergies now. He always seems to be congested and then he gets the croup. So the doctor gave him Zyrtec which didn't seem strong enough. Now he's on Rinocort, (a nasel spray), and he's feeling much better. Less sneezing and less coughing. Yippee!!! I'm going to try to upload some pictures for you guys of their birthday party.

Skylar and Axel's cake...
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/cake1.jpg

Skylar blowing out his candles...
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/cake3.jpg

Axel eating his cake...kinda...
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q22/Michelle6281/cake.jpg

Michelle and Curtis

11-11-2006, 09:07 PM

carseat: Axel has been front facing since his birthday and it's working out just fine.

naps: He still takes one in the morning and one in the afternoon both around 2 hours a piece.

books: Didn't really introduce him to books. Not much of a point really. He can't read and won't sit long enough to be read to. His favorite toy is a ball...any ball. :-)

bottle: We've been off bottles since he was about 6 months and we've actually gave him a regular cup, (not a sippy...just an open glass.) He does pretty well with it. And the rest of the time he uses his sippy cups or steals his brother's Playtex straw cups.

Tip for mommies trying to ditch the bottle: Quit cold turkey. Sure, they're going to cry but the longer you let them have that comfort bottle at naps or bedtime the harder it will be to break it. It should only take a few days of tantrums for them to get over it. Letting them cry theirself to sleep won't kill or hurt them. And besides, you'll be so much happier not having to clean out all those nipples from the bottles! Good luck!

words: He says, Mama, Dada, no no, ball and diaper.

Kanga

11-12-2006, 10:00 AM

Well, if you haven't noticed by my sig yet, we're having another GIRL! I was wrong with my prediction, and since dh said both boy and girl, he insists that he was right and I was wrong and that he really knew it was a girl all along:rolleyes: Riiiiiiight.

Lvella43

11-12-2006, 12:42 PM

Kanga Congratulations on your baby girl!!

1_mommy

11-12-2006, 01:34 PM

Congratulations on another little girl Kanga!

DianeCourt

11-12-2006, 05:08 PM

Congrats, Kanga! Your baby girls are going to be so close in age & hopefully such great friends.

Michelle and Curtis

11-12-2006, 05:16 PM

Congratulations! :)

mcl

11-12-2006, 05:39 PM

CONGRATULATIONS KANGA ON YOUR BABY GIRL. YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN DRESSING THOSE CUTIE PIES.

i thought that i'd post this here. it's a very sad, tragic story but the family used the tragedy to educate and inform people of the importance of a 5point harness carseat way beyond what we think is too old or too big for kids to be in one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

hope everyone had a great weekend.

Surftraitor

11-12-2006, 05:46 PM

Congratulations Kanga!!! Wonderful News

Importance of Reading--A child being unable to read is the WEAKEST excuse I've ever heard for not reading to your child. I mean, come ON. If you never read to your child, how will he/she ever learn? Reading builds listening skills, increases a child's attention span, develops creativity, and is a bonding experience that fosters one-on-one communication.

I think all of our DCs are all over the place right now. That doesn't stop me from reading to my child. Sometimes he'll crawl over to me and listen. Other times, he won't. But to not read to him at all? That makes no sense to me.

jh124

11-12-2006, 06:54 PM

We are in teething purgatory over here. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we are waiting...:rolleyes:

Books - We read to DS everyday. He's doesn't really get it yet, but he's starting to follow along. I, too, think access to books and reading is important. I don't expect him to be a baby genius or anything, but we place a high value on education in our family and early access to books is the first step in a life long education.

godsgift77

11-12-2006, 07:17 PM

Congrats on the baby girl!!! :D

Books ds has TONS of books and loves to sit and turn the pages. I have recently found that song books are his favorite so we sing the songs from the book and he dances! :) In no way would I reco skipping books simply because he was too young to sit still... that makes no sense...

hmbay

11-12-2006, 07:28 PM

congrats Kanga!

cartersmommy

11-12-2006, 08:22 PM

SURF: totally agree. We have read to DS everynight since he was born. He doesn't like to sit still, but loves books. I think it's UBER important. It's essential for their brain development!

LexyLou

11-12-2006, 08:35 PM

Hi ladies!

I haven't been here in ages! I love seeing all the pictures of your beautiful babies!

Ella is doing great. We just got over a double ear infection. :( But she's been great since.

Sippy Cups: Ella drinks everything from a straw sippy cup. We've tried everything from Nuby, to Gerber and now we are using Playtex. They are great. They are shaped like a little dumbell so her little hands can hold it easily.

Car Seat: We turned her around a few days after her first birthday (she was 22 lbs). I originally wanted to keep her rear facing as long as possible but she HATED being backwards and would cry and scream almost the entire trip. Being in a new State and getting lost and dealing with a screaming baby was MUY stressful. I figured it was safer to turn her around and be less stressed out in the car...it totally worked. She LOVES being in the car now. She barely even whines and doesn't even play with her toys that much because she loves looking around.

Teeth:Girlfriend had no teeth until she was almost 9 months old and now she was 9 teeth and the 10th is on it's way right now.

Walking: Ella is a full time walker now. She crawls occasionally if she's really tired or if she just took a hard spill while walking. Her favorite thing to do is just walk around our house in a giant circle while holding a baking pan in her hand.

Books/Reading-Ella LOVES reading. She has a big canvas box filled with books and every night before bedtime she goes over and rifles through the box and picks out the one she wants. She's very specific too and will pull some out, look at them and then put it down to find the just right one. She'll climb in to my lap and just gets mesmerized by the book and then I say, "turn the page" and she turns the page. She's also learned all the different directions of the flaps when we read the Karen Katz books like, "Where is Baby's Bellybutton?"When it's over she crawls over to pick another one out. This could go on all night so we've set the bedtime book limit to 4.

Bath Books/toys-We have one bath book, The Circus McGurkis Squirt, which Ella is obsessed with and I have to read this 4 page book over and over and over again during bath time. We need to find some new ones, any suggestions? Also, we're looking for some new bath toys too.

That's it with us! Glad to hear you are all doing well.

Congrats KANGA on your new baby girl to be!

ETA: Weird! I just went to subscribe to this thread because I don't get notifications and it said I was already subscribed. I wonder why I never got the notifications...

mcl

11-12-2006, 10:41 PM

jenjen0713

11-13-2006, 07:19 AM

Kanga - Congrats on your baby girl! Hope you are feeling well!

Books - We read to DS every night and he loves to turn pages and while we may not always read the story, we point out things in the books like ducks or cats and talk about the noises they make. DS loves to flip through books on his own.

Lvella43

11-13-2006, 07:26 AM

Books I have been reading to Jack since the day he was born. Sometimes he will cuddle in and pay attention in his own little way and others he just crawls over me like a jungle gym not paying attention in the least, but I keep reading. Lately he has been grabbing books and furniture surfing them over to me so I can read them; its soooo freaking cute!

Bath toys Jack had about a week period of time where he would scream bloody murder when I put him in the tub. I would put him in and he would turn around, stand up and scream to get out. It was a bummer, but he snapped out of it thank goodness. A friend of our sent Jack this toy (http://www.exploratoriumstore.com/xylophone.html)for his bday and HE LOVES IT!!! Its for older kids so he doesn't use it in the "right" way, but boy oh boy does this thing make him happy! There is a whole series of the Tub Tunes toys.

Straw Sippy Cups Can someone post a picture of the straw sippy that they are using?

Walking Jack is up to walking about 8-10 steps with good balance. It still cracks me up when he looks like a drunken sailor though! I think he'll be a full on walker soon. Must get him some shoes and winter boots!!

Carseat I am FREAKING out about what to do with the carseat for our Thanksgiving travels. I'm wondering if we should bring it on the plane or check it thru. We only have one car seat that we use and one hand-me-down that is such a piece of crap, but DH won't let me throw it away; he freaking wants to use it on our trip! Its so freaking lame, I need to find a picture of it so you guys can see how lame it is. I thin I might just buy a carseat to have delivered at my parents house and say they bought it so my son can be safe while we're in the Bay Area!

jenjen0713

11-13-2006, 07:45 AM

straw sippy cups - We use the Nuby ones that look something like this. The only place I can find them at is Wal-mart..our Target doesn't sell them.

http://williamsstore.com/market/images/UT-UR7830.jpg

lorialys

11-13-2006, 08:26 AM

Congrats Kanga on your baby girl!!

Books Lucas LOVES them, he especially enjoys flipping through all the pages and the ones that have flaps to open. We read to him every night before bed and sometimes during the day when he's playing with the books in his room I'll read one or two to him.

Sippy We also use the nuby straw sippies, we have three of them now and they're the only ones he'll drink from. I have only found them at Walmart too.

1_mommy

11-13-2006, 09:05 AM

books-Kai loves to look at his books. We read before bed everynight. 1 that we read is the sa me one everynight, it is part of his bedtime routine. he is getting now where he babbles as i read while pointing to the pictures in the books. sooo cute if ya ask me, so i know he is getting something out of me reading to him. Kaimi loves to read her books to Kai too!

bath toys- honestly, Kai loves just a regular cup and the washcloth the most! both kids take a bath together now and they are usually fighting over the 1 cup i have in there now, guess i should get an extra so they both have one

lvella did you buy jack a seat, or is he sitting on your lap? when we flew last month Kai sat on our lap, but there were a couple flights that the flight was not full, so there were extra seats, in that case you would be able to use your carseat. i would bring the seat all the way up to the plane, and if they can't use it on that flight, have them gate check it. better chance it wouldn't get lost that way. we gate checked Kais stroller on every flight.

lml41981

11-13-2006, 09:42 AM

books: Didn't really introduce him to books. Not much of a point really. He can't read and won't sit long enough to be read to. His favorite toy is a ball...any ball. :-)

:confused: Babies can't drive, so why bother giving them toy cars? They can't play sports, so why bother giving them balls to play with? They can't give birth, so why bother giving them baby dolls? Seriously, that is the most absurd reason for not reading to your kids I've ever heard. Ever. :(

Haven't been around a lot...Natalie is cautiously walking. She's taken as many as 10 steps in a row, but she just isn't fully there. She can't run a marathon anyway, so why bother getting her to walk? :p

She's not really too into talking, either. I tend to know her grunts and stuff, but I know I need to get better about encouraging her to say words. Ahh well...she can't sing a cantata, so why bother teaching her to talk? :p

Carseat...still rear-facing. We won't turn her forward facing until she is at the max weight or height limit for rear-facing, whichever is first. We're flying up to Eastern PA in a couple weeks and I do wonder if my extended family members will try to pressure me into having her forward-facing.

Bottles...she hasn't had a bottle since she was 11.5 weeks old. She still nurses like a champ, though. No plans to wean.

Anyone still not gotten AF back?

hmbay

11-13-2006, 09:55 AM

books--Colin never really liked books and I didn't read all that much to him at a younger age but around 18 months he started to like books more--specifically I started reading to him everytime I nursed Alex after Alex was born so that it didn't seem so much like I was taking time away from him (a hint some other mommy gave somewhere here on CC) and that started his real love of books. I can recite "Goodnight Moon" without thinking twice (that was his favorite for the first few months Alex was born). Now at 3 we read 2-5 a night before bed. Alex listens and turns pages in the ones we're done reading. He doesn't sit yet for me to read just to him but I have bought him a few of his own books (Colin has a tendency to abuse his books by carrying them around etc so I've kept Alex's separate if we read those at night so that Alex has the chance to trash his own toys. ;) )

jh124

11-13-2006, 11:13 AM

Words - Hank is talking up a storm, mostly just sounds, but he thinks he's having entire conversations with us. He has inflection, punctuation, he's really talking. This morning, I was leaving the classroom and clear as a bell, he said, "Bye Bye!" First time I've ever heard him say it. We usually say it for him and he waves.

EJM

11-13-2006, 12:25 PM

lvella: Is the carseat certified for airplane travel? I had been a couple of flights with DD no questions asked, then randomly one time a flight attendant on a small commuter plane stopped me and said I needed to show her the airplane certification tag on the carseat. :confused: I wasn't sure what she was talking about because I'd never been asked before, but she found it no problem and said we should be stopped everytime.

I would take a carseat, even if you probably won't be able to get a seat for him at Thanksgiving, you can still gate check it which I think is more gentle on your stuff. I've been told the flight is "full" a few times, then all of a sudden there are seats :rolleyes: so I am able to sit DD next to me. I've bought her a seat the last few times though.

If you have a Britax I HIGHLY recommend the Go-Go Kidz attachment. It isn't the highest quality baby product for $75, but it is worth every single penny when traveling! I couldn't live without it, especially when I flew alone with DD.

lml41981

11-13-2006, 12:58 PM

Carseat I am FREAKING out about what to do with the carseat for our Thanksgiving travels. I'm wondering if we should bring it on the plane or check it thru. We only have one car seat that we use and one hand-me-down that is such a piece of crap, but DH won't let me throw it away; he freaking wants to use it on our trip! Its so freaking lame, I need to find a picture of it so you guys can see how lame it is. I thin I might just buy a carseat to have delivered at my parents house and say they bought it so my son can be safe while we're in the Bay Area!

Hmm...I wonder if there's a way you could damage the piece of crap carseat before you leave and then blame it on the airline. "Darn it! Need a new carseat now! Maybe Mom and Dad can swing by and pick one up on their way to get us from the airport." :p

Natalie and I are flying in a couple weeks. We battled a similar issue...do I buy a ticket and use the carseat on the plane or do I risk it? We ended up buying a ticket because if they were to damage my Boulevard, aside from being insanely livid, I'd be out twice the cost of her plane ticket. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to get through the airport because DH won't let me buy the Gogo Kidz for one flight. :rolleyes:

Lvella43

11-13-2006, 01:36 PM

Thanks for the car seat feedback! I completely forgot that it has to be airplane safe, and I don't think this one is so we're just going to bring is regular car seat and deal with it. We purchased Jack a seat ($427!!!) since I knew that it would be a full flight during the holiday season. I think we'll just gate check the thing so I don't have to worry, he doesn't really sleep in his car seat in the car so i don't know that he will on a plane either.

Can you tell I'm nervous about the travel? I think I'm more nervous because my husband is going to be with us and he get flustered so easily when Jack is fussy, then I just have to worry about both of them instead of just Jack. Fortunatly, DH best friend is traveling this week and managed to get himself on our flight from Minneapolis to SF, so really i guess I'm on my own anyway.

Kanga

11-13-2006, 02:02 PM

Thanks for all the congrats ladies!

Jenjen - can't remember if I congratulated you or not on your next baby boy, but if not, Congrats!!

Lvella - our carseat is a hand me down and recently expired (thank god!) so I told dh we needed to get a new one for her. He wouldn't believe me until I found an article in a parenting (or parents) magazine that said even if you know who it came from and especially if it's expired, you should buy a new one. It finally clicked. I believe I still have the magazine in my car...I can check for you next time I run errands if you think it would help. Or you could do what I did with dh's 10 year old pair of sandals - his favorite that he refused to throw out. One day they just suddenly dissapeared and were replaced with a brand new pair. Funny how those things work sometimes;)

Airplane travel - I have no idea how much this weighs or if it's airline safe, but Cosco has a convertible carseat that is supposed to be in the top 3 for safety (along with britax something or other and evenflow triumph) for only ~ $50. Personally if it were me (but take in to account I haven't flown with dd yet) and I was going by myself on a short flight, I wouldn't get her a seat. If I had somebody with me (to help carry all the crap) and could swing the $ for another ticket, I'd get one.

Books - call me a lame horrible mom, but we don't read to dd very much. We do try every couple of weeks, but 99% of the time she rips the books out of my hands and walks off with it. Even found it in the trash can once:rolleyes: So I make sure to sing songs (ones with hand motions are a hit right now) to her more than I normally would and point out objects wherever we are (car, cat, tree, etc)

Hmbay - That's a great tip for reading while nursing. I was just thinking the other day what I was going to do if dd got needy while nursing the baby which I'm sure will happen lots in the beginning. Maybe she'll actually let me hold the book by then.

Lex - good to see you around!

jh- dd does the same thing. She has had numerous conversations with the buttons on the tv. BTW - I love your signature! Your sense of humor never fails to lighten my day!

hmbay

11-13-2006, 02:10 PM

kanga--it worked really well. The first few days Colin ignored me a bit but then he started sitting next to me on the couch or if I forgot would bring me a book when I started feeding Alex.

mcl

11-13-2006, 02:13 PM

jenjen--i, too, didn't realize that you're having another boy! congrats. what is this? are the RO's having repeat genders for their next babies also?:D

Kanga

11-13-2006, 02:26 PM

jenjen--i, too, didn't realize that you're having another boy! congrats. what is this? are the RO's having repeat genders for their next babies also?:D

lol, I guess the true test will come when Lysh finds out what she's having.

jh124

11-13-2006, 02:45 PM

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to get through the airport because DH won't let me buy the Gogo Kidz for one flight.

I think it's time for you to invest in a mei tai or hip carrier (I'd go for the ease of snapping on the hip carrier.) Put Natalie in the carrier, the carseat in the stroller, diaper bag in stroller basket. Take everything out at security (including Nat) then repack on the other side. Yes, PITA, but it will work. Use your stroller at your pack mule until you get to the gate.

EJM

11-13-2006, 03:14 PM

If the carrier doesn't have any metal, you should be able to wear the baby through security without removing her. :)

lml41981

11-13-2006, 03:19 PM

I think it's time for you to invest in a mei tai or hip carrier (I'd go for the ease of snapping on the hip carrier.) Put Natalie in the carrier, the carseat in the stroller, diaper bag in stroller basket. Take everything out at security (including Nat) then repack on the other side. Yes, PITA, but it will work. Use your stroller at your pack mule until you get to the gate.
Sheesh Marsha. Nag me about it. :D

Yeah, she'll be in the Maya Wrap (which I have learned you do not have to take off at security anymore...we'll see how the metal rings go through, though). What held me back on the hip carriers before was my fat ass...but now that I'm becoming a skinny bitch, it might work well for me. I'll have to mention it to John *and* see if Nancy has the ability to even make anything and get it to me by 12/5. Eep. I could just get an EllaRoo, I guess.

I just can't figure out if I'll take my cheap Cosco umbrella or my crappy Britax Forerunner (which cost $140 more than the Cosco and is 18438492384 times as crappy). I can carry on the Cosco, but not the Britax. Will the carseat (big ol' Boulevard) even fit on the umbrella stroller? I guess it will if I loop the harness straps over the handles or use the tether to strap it to the stroller. I suppose instead of talking to myself, I could just go take the carseat out of the car and see. Novel idea.

I'll get through this trip, but John will trip over the guilt I lay before him about the Gogo Kidz. ;)

jh124

11-13-2006, 03:27 PM

If the carrier doesn't have any metal, you should be able to wear the baby through security without removing her. :)

Should and Barney Pfife Security Guard do not mix. I've always had to remove Hank and send the carrier through security. I might me harboring something in the fabric.:rolleyes:

jenjen0713

11-13-2006, 03:50 PM

jenjen--i, too, didn't realize that you're having another boy! congrats. what is this? are the RO's having repeat genders for their next babies also?:D

It is looking that way! :D

By the way, I've been a lurking over in the TTC #2 thread and see a number of October mommas over there. I'm thinking there might be another baby boom in the next few months. Maybe another series of 3 repeat offenders?? ;)

Michelle and Curtis

11-13-2006, 05:43 PM

Lvella43

11-13-2006, 05:46 PM

Mei tai/ hip carriers What are the weight restraints with those things? I still use the Bjorn just about every day, but I wonder about those hip things.

EJM

11-13-2006, 06:12 PM

Mei tai/ hip carriers What are the weight restraints with those things? I still use the Bjorn just about every day, but I wonder about those hip things.

In general 35 pounds for a mei tai or a "mei hip" type carrier. I'm not sure about the Bjorn though.

Michelle and Curtis

11-13-2006, 07:13 PM

Here's the one we have...Playtex...

http://www.playtexbaby.com/images/photos/250x368/hiphammock.jpg

lml41981

11-13-2006, 08:26 PM

lml41981
So sorry you don't agree with me about the book thing. But let's be honest, our children are only 1 year old. They don't get it. Reading to them only benefits them if they stick around long enough to hear the story. I prefer more interactive play for him. Maybe when he has a longer attention span it would make more sense. But for right now reading to my one year olf who is running from me is like reading to wall. Maybe you think I'm a terrible mom, that's your opinion.
One issue doesn't make one a terrible mom. I definitely think you're incredibly off-base on this issue, though... if you want my honesty.

It is funny that you think they don't get it. Because I could have sworn that about 20 minutes ago as DD pointed at the red balloon, the quiet old lady whispering hush and the bowl full of mush that she got it. I would have sworn that as she made her way from one end of the bed where she teased the dog while I read to the other to be at my side in time to show me how wide she could stretch out her arms like Little Nutbrown Hare that she got it (interactive, I think). I believe she gets it when all I have to do is say, "In the great...green...room" and she gets a huge smile on her face. I think she gets it when she crawls into my room and gets her bedtime stories and brings them to me in the middle of the day.

It is about instilling a love for reading from the start. I've been reading to Natalie since before she was born and if given the choice between a book and a ball, I'm very glad that she chooses a book. Maybe you think I'm silly, but quite frankly...I don't care.

http://www.makereadingfirst.com/infants_toddlers.html
http://www.nea.org/readacross/resources/infantsandtoddlers.html
http://www.publishers.org/conference/pubinfo.cfm?PublicationID=6

godsgift77

11-13-2006, 10:45 PM

Should and Barney Pfife Security Guard do not mix. I've always had to remove Hank and send the carrier through security. I might me harboring something in the fabric.:rolleyes:

Barney must have been at my gate cuz i hadda take mine off and put CJ down while i tried to re-pack all the crap that i had to unpack to go through the damn gate :mad: :rolleyes:

godsgift77

11-13-2006, 10:47 PM

It is looking that way! :D

By the way, I've been a lurking over in the TTC #2 thread and see a number of October mommas over there. I'm thinking there might be another baby boom in the next few months. Maybe another series of 3 repeat offenders?? ;)

crossing all crossables that I am among the next wave of ROs! :D

jenjen0713

11-14-2006, 07:28 AM

Books - I guess I want to add one thing that our Parents as Teacher educator stressed to me. Repetition is the key. Just because DS doesn't "get" it the first time and won't sit still doesn't mean I should just throw in the towel and say "I'll wait until his attention span is longer". Doing things over and over is what helps build that longer attention span. She told me kids are all about repetition. I've noticed this with DS, he drops a toy, I pick it, repeat, repeat, repeat. Incredibly frustrating as a mom, but I know he is learning cause and effect. Reading builds imagination and is the foundation for learning. I think about all those mom who started sign language with their kids at birth. They kept repeating it over and over and over. While it may not have seemed like they were "getting" it, they were soaking it all in. That repetition paid off and now their children are signing back to them. Same with books, they might seem like they don't "get" it, but I believe they are soaking it all in.

godsgift - You were one of them I saw over there when I was lurking! Good luck!

hmbay

11-14-2006, 07:48 AM

reading--just last night I tried to read to Alex separate from Colin once Colin was in bed and he kept playing with his toys. He'd come over now and then and look at the book but kept playing. However when I quit reading he quit playing and looked at me so even if he wasn't sitting on my lap he was still listening/absorbing. I know Colin never sat still at that age to be read to and I didn't read to him until around 18 months and he loves books now so I don't think it's going to stop them from loving books later but I do think at 1 they can at least "background listen" and it will benefit them in the long run.

jh124

11-14-2006, 09:00 AM

Reading - One more flogging for the dead horse: I tend to speak as if I am a redneck hippie (which I kinda am.) :o Dude, man, lame, and sucks are the majority of words in my vocabulary when I'm not working. I swallow my "ing" so it's runnin, playin, walkin, bitchin, moanin, etc. When I read, I enunciate my words and make all the sounds. It probably sounds silly, but I like to think that for five minutes a day Hank learns what the English language should really sound like. He spends 15 minutes getting German in the bathtub, the least I can do is give him 5 minutes of English.:o

lml41981

11-14-2006, 10:16 AM

1_mommy

11-14-2006, 06:20 PM

as far as introducing books at an early age, i couldn't agree more to doing it. My 3 year old already knows how to write her letters! and i attribute it to looking at books and her recognizing the letters. we have lots of books that are based just on one particular letter, and i have already introduced these to Kai. I don't always read te story to him, but more of looking at the pictures and lots of "wheres the tree?" "do you see the red balloon?" "heres the kitty cat, it says meow" lots and lots of interacting while reading!

LexyLou

11-14-2006, 07:54 PM

lex--you know what, make sure that you pick instant notification daily on the subscription page. the same thing happened to me and it's because the default choice when you subscribe is "no notification".:rolleyes: it's great to hear from you. we've missed you around here. i'm glad to hear that ella is doing much better. how do you like new jersey? will you post pics of ella? i bet she's grown so much. i need to post pics of ds. it's just so hard now that shutterfly is out.

Let me go check that because again I'm still not getting notifications.

straw sippy cups - We use the Nuby ones that look something like this. The only place I can find them at is Wal-mart..our Target doesn't sell them.

http://williamsstore.com/market/images/UT-UR7830.jpg

Those are EXACTLY the playtex ones I have been buying except the playtex ones have pictures on it. I actually bought two of the Nuby ones and the lids fit on both so I know they are the same brand just made for Playtex. I bought mine at CVS (playtex) and Buy Buy Baby (nuby).

Should and Barney Pfife Security Guard do not mix. I've always had to remove Hank and send the carrier through security. I might me harboring something in the fabric.:rolleyes:

Dude! I have always had to take Ella out of the carrier. Poop on them.

Michelle and Curtis

11-14-2006, 08:36 PM

I think parents read too much into all these things that statistics and studies say is good for our children. That's all I am trying to say. They say reading to them at any early age is great for them and helps get a head start on learning. I don't believe it's the reading that educates them, it the parent talking to the child. He or she will learn probably just as much if you just play and talk to them. I play with my kids every night after work. I instruct him to get me the ball. He'll bring it back and I tell him, "Good job, you got the red ball!" He doesn't need to hear a story to understand and learn. That's all I'm trying to say. Interactive play hold a one year old's attention much better than any book.

Can't wait till Christmas! Skylar got a ton of Cars stuff from Santa so far. He's totally obsessed with that movie. Today he was looking through the Target toy book and he saw a playset that he told me and Curtis he wants. I told him that he'll have to ask Santa for that later. Little does he know it's sitting in the basement just waiting to be wrapped. I can't wait to see his face when he opens it! And I'm sure Curtis can't wait to play with it either! LOL

dragonfly_71

11-15-2006, 04:45 AM

Is there anyone else here who is raising DC bilingual?

DianeCourt

11-15-2006, 06:33 AM

Interactive play hold a one year old's attention much better than any book.

Definitely not the case for us! Lily would much rather look at a book together than play with any toy. A toy holds her attention for a minute and then she's moving on to something else, but we can sit together and look through her books for a LONG time. I think it's because we've been reading to her since she was born. She gets the biggest kick now out of books with flaps that you can lift and textures to touch.

Reading three different books every night is a big part of our bedtime routine. She's actually lay on my lap for most of this time (especially if she's tired), help me turn the pages, and listen to the stories. We always read "Guess How Much I Love You" last, and when she hears that, she knows it's time for mommy & daddy to put her in her crib.

jenjen0713

11-15-2006, 07:41 AM

bilingual - I wish, but sadly no.

spoon/fork - Is anyone's DC consistently using a spoon and fork at meals? At this point DS eats everything with his fingers, but when I do give him a spoon or fork, he knows it goes in his mouth, but he hasn't yet mastered how to pick things up with it.

Wow, maybe I shouldn't read too much into the statistics and studies that tell me that sleeping on a babies back is safest and putting your child in a car seat in safest and reading to your child is good when I raise my next child. All those silly researcher and their silly facts that they back up their research with....geez, what do they know.:rolleyes: I'll just hold my next baby in my lap when I'm driving "Britney" style and then when I get home, I'll give him a bottle with rice cereal in it and then lay him on his belly to sleep. :rolleyes:

EJM

11-15-2006, 07:51 AM

Bilingual: I think DH would like to (he's fluent in French and spoke it himself as a child, actually exclusively for a while) but he doesn't put as much emphasis into it as he should. DD was going to a 100% Spanish speaking daycare while I was working, so for a while I think we had managed to totally confuse her LOL. Guess my long answer is not really, which I think is a shame since DH doesn't have to do anything more than talk (vs studying and learning it) to teach DD.

Silverware: DD is very interested in using a spoon. I do give her one since she has shown interest and when she asks for one, but actually using it is limited to me putting something on it and then she gets it into her mouth. She's successful 80% of the time because I make sure whatever it is sticks to the spoon. She's getting plastic kiddie utensils for Christmas from my sister, I think we'll hold off until them really trying to use it consistently.

cartersmommy

11-15-2006, 08:12 AM

all i have to say is "wow". denying that reading to a child is good for them and their development IS like saying that a carseat isn't necessary. seriously, i am sorry for you and your child that you don't get to experience this.... it is such a bonding and close time with your child and even if they don't have a large attention span, it is ESSENTIAL for their growth and developement to HEAR the words you are reading to them linked together. Plus, the value of a routine like that is priceless. i'm done now :)

mcl

11-15-2006, 09:10 AM

bilingual--i'm teaching ds to speak my language, tagalog, which has some spanish words. i need to be consistent though because sometimes, if ind myself speaking to him in english. we've decided that dh will speak to him in english and i'll speak to him in tagalog.

Lvella43

11-15-2006, 09:26 AM

Bilingual I wish!!! Really I wish my father (who moved here from Sicily when he was 16) spoke Itailian in the house, but he was set on becoming American and to him that means speaking English.

Books Since we are "talking" about this I just had to write how freaking cute DS is with books. He loves looking at them, especially the texture ones and such. The last few days he has been walking them over to us and handing them to us. This morning he handed me a book than he turned around and I thought he was going to walk away, but he plopped right down in my lap and waited for me to read. TOO CUTE!!

Surftraitor

11-15-2006, 09:29 AM

I hope this thread is still around four years from now when our children are in school. It will be interesting to see how the DCs who were raised around books perform relative to those who don't. michelle and curtis--I truely hope you are just starved for attention and that's why you keep this argument going. I really don't want to hear you complain in a few years when your child is struggling in school. But I am curious, how do you expect your DCs to learn how to read if you aren't reading to them?

lml41981

11-15-2006, 10:34 AM

I think parents read too much into all these things that statistics and studies say is good for our children. That's all I am trying to say.

What? How do you pick and choose which statistics you will believe? I'm really curious...

I mean, you left your child rear-facing until at least 12 months of age and 20 pounds, right? The statistics show that rear-facing is the safest, so you followed that recommendation (not to mention the law), right? You didn't feed solids to your child before 4-6 months, right? Because statistics show that babies who begin solids before then are more susceptible to certain ailments. You listened to that statistic and recommendation, right? What about the statistics that show babies are less likely to die of SIDS if placed to sleep on their backs? Did you concern yourself with those stats?

I'll be honest...there are certain recommendations that I don't follow...but I wouldn't be so bold as to say I think the stats that support the recommendation are bogus. That is just pure ignorance.

***

Oh...and, no, Natalie is a one-language learner. Unfortunately, neither DH nor I speak anything other than English. Now would probably be a good time to learn Spanish and teach her Spanish, though. Statistics show that children are most able to learn multiple languages when they're babies and toddlers...

As for silverware...she's not really interested. She still uses her fingers. Every once in a while, she'll get the spoon to her mouth...but most of the time, she gives the dog a snack. She can't get food onto the spoon, either. I have to do that and then hand her the spoon. I need to be better about teaching her that. I accommodate her by giving her chunks instead. :(

adoredh

11-15-2006, 11:24 AM

I don't get much time to post in here, or to even lurk a bit, but I'm still around!

Had to make a comment about reading though.
Collin never sat still to read with me until about 2 weeks ago, now he brings me a book to read several times through out the day. Before that, I would read to him while he was eatting and while he was in his bath. In the books I would point out CAT, DOG, DUCK etc - sound it out for him point at it and so on. Now, we don't have a cat, or a duck, but when a cat walks around outside, he gets excited and starts saying cat. When he sees a duck on TV, he says duck. He learned that from books, not any toys that we might have. Just thought I'd share that....

LexyLou

11-15-2006, 11:33 AM

bilingual-Kind of sort of. We aren't super consistent but DD does already know spanish words. When we say give me a kiss, she won't but when we say give me a besito (spanish for little kiss) she kisses us. We would love for her to be bilingual though, we're just too lazy, if we're being honest here.

forks/spoons-DD does use her hands for the majority of her eating but we give her a fork and spoon at every meal and she will hand her fork to us, have me put food on it and then take it back and feed herself. I've also caught her the past couple of days trying to "stab" her food with the fork herself but she has yet to actually get any on her fork...but she loves to use them.

jh124

11-15-2006, 12:27 PM

bilingual - I wish. We do German bathtime. I count to DS in Spanish. And when he cooed over by Latinas in the grocery store, I always use my few Spanish phrases to say hello, how are you, my name is, I am one year old. I'm probably silly, but trying to at least expose him to language. We considered putting him in a home daycare with Spanish as the language, but my fear of in-home daycare killed that idea.

scubasam

11-15-2006, 02:05 PM

books/reading - I'm not going to venture down this road (i.e. my opinion)....I think everyone's stated their opinions so can we please move on?! It makes me a little sad to see any sort of heated discussion in our sweet little group. :)

bilingual - No. BUT, some of his toys (LeapFrog stuff) are bilingual so sometimes we switch them to Spanish for fun. We are making a huge effort in sign language though. I thought we were doing pretty well until we visited w/ some friends last weekend who use sign w/ their kids (their smallest is 4 days younger than Carter) and it was amazing. She signed w/ every word she spoke and her son responded so well so DH & I feel pretty strongly now that we need to be more consistent and learn more signs as we're only using 3 or 4.

forks/spoons - Carter still uses his fingers primarily but he really likes using a spoon and is getting pretty good at picking things up & putting in his mouth. Or, he flips the food on the floor for Sam. :rolleyes:

tantrums - Has anyone's DC started throwing tantrums? Gawd....Carter has been such a pill the last few days! He's started screaming and throwing himself on the ground every time we don't give him something he wants (mostly the phone as he's obsessed w/ phones right now!). I thought it was due to him not feeling well (he was sick last week....or is cutting molars....can't quite figure out which) but I'm not so sure now. I'm hoping it stops and we're also hoping that by not giving in to him that it lessens after a week or two. I just so did not expect to be starting the terrible twos at 14 months!! :rolleyes:

mcl

11-15-2006, 02:20 PM

jen--i'm with you. lj has been trhowing tantrums the last 2-3 weeks now. he would go down on the floor and cover his eyes with his hands and then scream/cry ever so loudly. it was cute at first but now, dh and i decided that we won't encourage it by not giving in. he loves to play with things he's not supposed to:rolleyes: (opening cabinets that i can't babyproof, climbing on everything and pulling down everything he can get his hands on. oh but when he smiles, i just melt. but still, i know we need to not give in to his every whim.

mcl

11-15-2006, 02:21 PM

hi LDSangel19! good to see you around, how are you?

Kelly's Girl

11-15-2006, 03:39 PM

Tantrums- he doesn't exactly throw a fit, but he's learned "no" and definitely starts bawling when he hears it.

Utensils- he'll grab for the spoon every now and then but isn't too dextrous (sp?).

Books- he's just getting into the more tactile ones, especially the Curious George book w/the mirror at the end, but mostly he's more interested in trying to rip them out of my hand and throw them on the floor. Maybe that's why I am only good at reading to him about 4X/week. Bad, I know. :o But I'm trying to do better!

Bilingual- sadly, no. DH babbles Cajun French sometimes but since I don't even understand him, I'm sure DS doesn't either.

DS is still crawling like mad but is definitely cruising a whole lot more. The ped said he "should" be walking by 15 months, which isn't really too far away. I am still a little plagued by worry that he'll be delayed, as he was born early. I try not to worry too much, and accept the ranges for kids' development, but it still freaks me out a bit to see y'all's babies doing stuff DS isn't! He wouldn't know a red ball from a blue ball if it hit him in the face. And usually when I ask him to bring me a particular toy, he shakes his head "no" at me and crawls off!

ETA: I was telling DH after work today that we need to read to DS more. I wanted to post this since he basically said what MichelleandCurtis said, that DS wasn't paying any attention to me or sitting still to look at the book, and when he was older we should read to him when he would sit and listen. I told him that I thought repetition was key and he'd never know what a book was to sit and listen to one at 2 years old if we don't introduce them now. I don't know if I convinced him, but I did read a few books to DS while he stacked his blocks during playtime before bed. Not sure how much of a difference it made, but I feel better.

LexyLou

11-15-2006, 06:53 PM

One of my IRL friends is part of the May/June Mommies group and man are they a chatty bunch.:D

Do you guys think that now that our DC are over a year we should/could combine with the September or November mommas? Just throwing that out there.

Anyway, I was looking at some of their QOTD and thought I would borrow some for us.

QOTD:What are you doing for Thanksgiving and what is DC wearing?

My Answer: We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house. DH's parents are flying in (and staying a week-but that' a whole other issue) and one of DH's co-workers is from Ireland and he has never celebrated Thanksgiving so we invited him and his boyfriend (who's from Canada and also doesn't celebrate) over. DH's co-workers sister and BIL will be in town so they are coming too. We also invited our next door neighbor because his wife and daughter are going to Milan. So there will be 9 of us total.

I'm cooking everything and super excited. I LOVE Thanksgiving.

We dress up for Thanksgiving but not super dressed up like Christmas so DD is wearing this jean dress and sweater from The Gap

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/alexismartinez/November10-15041.jpg

and some pointelle tights in cream from The Children's Place (which BTW have the best fitting tights eva!)

http://www.childrensplace.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=319308&langId=-1&exp=n&catTree=25851,26140,25911,26298&clearance=0

And boots like these, but not these (her's doesn't have the balls)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000F70PM6.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS260_V52392620_.jpg

Now you...share (sorry, having an Oobi moment)

Michelle and Curtis

11-15-2006, 07:37 PM

Car seats - My son was rear-facing in a car seat because it is the law, not some opinion of some stuffy doctor.

Solids - My first started solids at about 2 months and my second started at about 2 weeks. They handled the food just fine since it was mixed in their bottles. No one choked, no one even gagged. They handled it like champs and they slept much better because of it.

SIDS - My kids both slept on their sides, not their backs.

Are you really going to dissect my parenting one issue at a time just because I said that reading to a 1 year old is pointless? I just don't see what is oh so important about reading. They learn just as many words talking to their siblings and other family.

Forks and Spoons...
He starts ok with them and then he usually throws it away and uses his hands.

Case closed, I'm very tired of having to defend myself here. Not another word about it...please.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanksgiving...

We don't really dress up at all. I plan on dressing the boys in matching outfits but different colors. A striped shirt and nice distressed jeans. I just went out tonite and got myself a nice pair of shoes for a furneral I have to attend tomorrow and I think I might wear them Thanksgiving too. Curtis, (I know), will be wearing a football jersy. He lives and breathes football! And about every other sport too!

Bilingual...

Nope! I am part Italian from my father's side and I caught my Dad and Grandfather trying to teach the boys a few words in Italian but they would be far from fluent in it. In fact, if I had to guess I would say they were probably trying to teach them some bad words or something.

Tantrums...
We have those. Trust me, they are way worse coming from the older one though. Best thing is to ignore it. All they want is you attention, deny them that and they stop real fast. Axel has thrown several tantrums, usually it means Skylar did something like take his toy. You'd think giving him the toy back would fix it but he seems determined to show how angry he is at his brother. I've even caught Axel hitting his brother for such offenses. Ah, let the sibling rivalry begin.

Kelly's Girl

11-15-2006, 07:47 PM

m&c, I kind of felt like your last post was aimed at me b/c I was the last person to mention reading. I edited my prior post b/c my DH made a comment similar to yours and I wanted to point out that there are different schools of thought on books (and every other child-rearing issue) and that you had someone in your camp! I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers and I apologize if I did. I don't necessarily agree w/ my own DH, so it's not a stretch that virtual strangers in our Oct. moms group will disagree, too.

/hijack. :)

Kanga

11-15-2006, 08:07 PM

Yes, please lets just agree to disagree.

utensils - no where even close to it yet. Today she had about a handful (her handful, not mine) of cheerios throughout the day and about 10 bites of WG toast and I consider that a good day. At this rate I'm convinced I'm going to be sending formula with her in her lunchbox to kindergarten.

Tantrums - yup, had them for awhile now. She does it usually when I take away something she's not supposed to have or we don't have time for her 20 minute minimum requirement in the bathtub. Those are things I can't give in to, so it's pretty easy. I usually just say something similar to "I know you're (sad, angry, etc) because I did xyz. I did that because ________. You can play/do this instead. Obviously she doesn't really get it yet, but eventually she will.

Do you guys think that now that our DC are over a year we should/could combine with the September or November mommas? Just throwing that out there.

I was just thinking the same thing. Until very recently it was pretty dead in here and quite a few of us have left, so it'd be nice to get to know some of the other mamas on the board.

Billingual - we're getting her the baby signing times dvd set (1, 2, and 3) for xmas, but that's more to help us understand her more than anything. I don't forsee us using it past when she can talk. I wish dh or I knew Spanish, but we don't, so it's a little difficult to teach her.

adoredh - Good to see you around! How is the baby-sitting going?

QOTD - Not sure what dd is wearing just yet. Probably won't go buy her a new outfit since I just went shopping for her not too long ago and we'll start xmas shopping soon. We're going to my gma's on T-giving day (4 hr round trip) and then to the IL's the day after. This whole "have to see everybody for every holiday" thing is getting very old very fast. Not sure what we're doing next year for the holidays as dh will be transferred by then, hopefully far, far away, but I can't keep this up much longer and really hate spending all of dh's days off travelling.

Dd has hit her 1 year developmental spurt where they suddenly start to understand you a lot more. Dd frequently walks back and forth from the kitchen and living room carrying various objects with her. She came from the kitchen to the living room today and had something in her hand. I couldn't tell what it was so I said "What do you got now, Daytona?" She immediately got a huge grin on her face, turned around and made a run for it while giggling up a storm. It was something she could have anyways (can't remember what), but I about died laughing at her.

adoredh

11-15-2006, 08:29 PM

Kanga~ Wow! Thanks for the SO and remembering about the babysitting! Sad to say, but since his mom had to drive 20 minutes out of the way to get him every night, they've switched to a daycare closer to her work. With winter coming, and the roads can get really bad over here, she wanted to spend less time in the car, and more time with her son. I don't blame her one bit! But I miss Jackson so much! Having watched him since he was 2 months old, until he was 8 months, 5 days a week for almost 10 hours a day, I really really really grew very attatched to him. Even Collin missed him for a while. For the first week, Collin and I didn't know what to do with our days... :(

I have more time with Collin, but now that he's walking/running around every where, and almost cutting down to one nap a day ( anyone else on one nap a day yet??? ) I feel like I've got even less time, then I did with two boys!

Collin is also starting to understand so much! If he's hungry and wants his snack, I have one cupboard that isn't latched, so he'll reach in and pull out the container that I fill with cheerios, and then waddle to the next room I'm in, hold it out to me, and grunt until I open it so that he can reach his chubby hand in and grab a huge handful! It's so cute! He's also starting to bring a book to me through out the day, and will crawl into my lap to read ( and then make me read the same book over again a little while latter) He also brings his shoes to me when he wants to go outside! All this started about 2 weeks ago, it's amazing! At night, we'll take his clothes off for his bath, and he runs naked through the house and trys to crawl into the bath tub all on his own! (love the naked butt as he runs around!!! LOL!) So many changes, and all happening so fast!!!

QOTD Collin will be dressed the tradishional Thanksgiving day outfit of sweat pants with a very forgiving waste. (same outfit that his mom, grandpa, grandma, and aunt always wear! LOL!) Thanksgiving is at our house, I'm cooking everything, and just asked that guests bring the wine. 9 total, so we're moving the kitchen table downstairs with our pub table (that has a leaf too) so there will be plenty of room. We'll have the food upstairs buffet style, turkey, homemade stuffing, sweat potato pie, corn bread, homemade mashed potatoes, gravey, greenbeans, rolls, homemade pies (pumpkin, apple and chocolate pie) It's going to be a feast!!!

Well, time for me to go to bed, Collin will be up around 530am so I better get my beauty sleep!

scubasam

11-15-2006, 09:37 PM

merging threads - I love this idea, Lex! I've actually been meaning to subscribe to the Sept thread for....well...a year (lol!) since Carter's a Sept baby but never got around to it. Either Sept or Nov is good with me though. And yah, it gets dead in here sometimes so it'd be fun!

naps - Yep, think we're going down to one too. Carter hasn't taken a morning nap so far this week and he's ALWAYS wanted to go back to bed after being up for an hr or so in the a.m. He's taken a longer nap in the afternoon and also wanting to go to bed earlier in the evening (7pm vs his usual 8pm) and getting up at 8:00am vs. 7am.

I keep thinking maybe this "reorganization" of sleep is contributing to the tantrums? Along with, of course, the illness/cutting teeth issue.

Thanksgiving - Carter will be wearing ON jeans w/

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140012875?$240x305$

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140014255?$240x305$

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140012877?$240x305$

http://seekairun.com/images/240x240_noah.jpg

We're doing T-giving at MIL & FIL's house w/ the whole family (25 immediate family members!) and my mom is in town from FL. We're taking her up to Vancouver BC this weekend so she can stay a few days w/ my cousins who live there so she may or may not be back for T-giving.

What about the day after Thanksgiving? Anyone shopping??!! My gf Sarah and I are going to downtown Seattle for the afternoon.....we do it every year.....shop a bit, watch the tree lighting in Westlake Center (big plaza area) and then hit the Cheesecake Factory for martinis and food! It's crazy busy but we love it! Totally gets us in the holiday spirit!

mcl

11-15-2006, 10:21 PM

i'm all about merging with the september or november mamas also. lj was born september 20th. maybe we should do a fall thread of sept./oct/nov. as always, great idea lex.

Gabe's Mom

11-15-2006, 10:47 PM

Naps - Gabe is in transition. At daycare, he only gets one. But at home, he is back to two. One around 9 or 10 am and then around 2 PM. Sometimes, if he is doing really well, he'll skip the am one and then go by 11:30 am.

Utensils - Gabe has actually got the hang of using a spoon fairly well. Once in awhile, we gotta recorrect his position but he will definately let ya know if he doesn't want help! Need to work on forks next.

Walksing - Gabe isn't walking yet either. He just started independent standing this last weekend so hopefully we'll see walking soon. I've always read that up to 16 months is ok, so not too worried. Once he starts, he'll never stop so I'm still trying to enjoy this cruising time! Anyone remember how long to took from standing to walking??

Reading - Gabe never liked to sit for books either - until 2 weeks ago. Truly. He's be turning pages, crawling off my lap etc... I thought it was pointless but kept trying. Now he is so attentive and listens and points.

Scubasam - cute shoes!!! Your little guy will look so handsome!

godsgift77

11-15-2006, 10:48 PM

I am up for a new thread with other mommies!!!

utensils he can handle the ones we bought for him but he can't pick stuff up with them...

tantrums YES and i agree with Michelle and Curtis - Ignore him and he stops. When he stops, I explain to him that his actions are "Not okay". Maybe one day he'll get it... *sigh*

Bilingual Dh speaks spanish an has started speaking to ds in spanish - don't think he quite gets it but we'll keep at it :)

Thanksgiving I *heart* Thanksgiving! It makes me SO happy!!! I get to do my favorite activities all in one weekend - cook/eat/shop! :D The whole family will be coming here... My parents, my uncle and his gf and kids, my ILs - 10 total i think... we're having Smoked turkey breast, cranberry orange relish, stuffing, ham, mashed yukon gold potatoes, mac-n-cheese, greens, black eyed peas, corn bread, clover rolls, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, and pound cake... *yum*

He'll be wearing jeans and a t-shirt... nothing special...

Shopping Last year i discovered that all the same sales that are in the stores are also available online - without the lines and rude people. So i will be shopping at Midnight on Thanksgiving since thats when the sales all start!!!

mcl

11-15-2006, 11:39 PM

O- i see you. hey i truly want to get together with you and cj. i know with the holidays it'll get crazy. let's try to do something in the new year, okay. that way, i can design my schedule at work better.
by the way, thanks a lot for posting your thanksgiving menu. i'm now salivating

DianeCourt

11-16-2006, 07:10 AM

Merging threads: GREAT idea, Lex!

Thanksgiving: We have three sets of parents (mine are both remarried), so the Holidays can be stressful as we decide whose house we're going to celebrate at. Somebody always gets left out because they're too childish to have a joint celebration at our house with everybody. This year we're going to my dad's house for Thanksgiving - a bunch of relatives are coming in from out of town. I need to bring a dessert, so I think I'm going to make a homemade cheesecake. I haven't made one in a while! I love these hedgehog overalls from Gymboree's "Outdoor Whimsy" collection that I just got for Lily recently, so I think she'll wear them for the holiday. She's still crawling, so dresses get in the way! :rolleyes:

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140012866?$240x305$

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140012859?$240x305$

Utensils: We haven't tried yet, and I was just thinking that I need to get Lily a fork & spoon made for toddlers. Another reason to go to BRU!

Tantrums: Geez, when I put Lily in her highchair & she's hungry, she screams until the food comes. Also, when she's playing with her toys & can't push the buttons to turn them on, she gets really upset. This is all new stuff to me!

LDS Angel 19

11-16-2006, 07:27 AM

hi LDSangel19! good to see you around, how are you?

*blushing* You caught me! :) I'm doing pretty well, thank you.

mcl

11-16-2006, 07:40 AM

adoredh--ds rarely does 2 naps now. he's mostly down to a one 2-3 hour nap. it's good to see you around here.

by the way, who's going to facilitate the thread merging? like i said, i'm all for it.

LexyLou

11-16-2006, 07:42 AM

Cute outfits everyone!

I looked at the threads and it looks like November is already merged with December.

September is free...should one of the mods of our thread contact a mod from their thread? I don't want to step out of line.;)

jenjen0713

11-16-2006, 07:46 AM

naps - We are still very much in the two naps category.

merging - I guess I'm in the minority, but I would rather not. I guess I'm just possessive of our little group and would like to keep it that way.:o But, if the majority wants to merge, then I have no problem with it.

Thanksgiving - We are going to ILs for dinner and then my parents are coming on Friday. I still need to get a menu ready for Friday so I can go shopping this weekend. Absolutely no shopping on Friday though! I admire those who are brave enough to battle all those other shoppers. :)

tantrums - He is having more and more. The sitter has said he has also started to cry when a stranger comes into her house such as her brother or daughter. Guess stranger anxiety is hitting him now.

EJM

11-16-2006, 08:00 AM

Thanksgiving: We alternate which major holiday is spent where, so this year we are off to the ILs for Thanksgiving. Oh joy :rolleyes: . Luckily it will only be about 48 hours though. Last I heard it will be us, my ILs, and all of DHs grandparents (3 who are living) and one aunt. My FIL is a college professor and usually invites students and random faculty members, but I've heard this year he was told not to by my MIL -- he never listens so I would expect a few randoms as usual. My FIL "doesn't do Thanksgiving" although he is the cook of the house, so that means my stressed out MIL will be cooking and always ropes in DH to do most of it. (I'm painting a lovely picture aren't I?). Honestly I LOVE Thanksgiving, just not spending it with DH's family. Guess I'll just have lots of wine :D

I might put DD in a dress, I haven't really decided. She isn't walking and the dresses bother her trying to crawl. Growing up we never wore anything special, but DH does ask when we are at his folks that we do something a little nicer.

Tantrums: Here and there, Avery's use of signs has exploded in the last few weeks and has helped tremendously with curbing the screaming. Each day varies as to how many signs she'll use, but she knows about 15.

lorialys

11-16-2006, 08:22 AM

I'm all for merging the threads!! I think Sept makes more sense because we do have quite a few Sept babies in here and I don't think we have any Nov babies. I'm a mod for this thread so I guess I can go ahead and contact the Sept thread mod and see what they want to do.

Lucas took his first steps yesterday!!! The complete story is in my journal, but we are very excited over here. He's still really shaky with it, so I think it will be a little while before he's confident, but we're getting there!

Thanksgiving We're headed to Savannah to my hubby's parents house. His grandparents and his two brothers (and our new SIL) are going to be there as well. It should be really nice! We originally weren't going to go, but when my parents made plans to come here for Christmas (without confirming with us first, :mad: but that's another story) we decided to share Thanksgiving with the other side of the family. It's going to be nice to have 4 days off with DH and DS, since we work opposite shifts now and only get to see each other during the evenings. I have no idea what Lucas is going to wear yet.

I have a question for everyone though, are you giving DC vitamins? I feel like maybe we should start them, because he's not nursing as much anymore, we're down to 2 times a day and I have no idea how much he's getting at those feedings. He eats table foods like a champ, but I'm sure he could benefit from some extra supplementation. I need to remember to ask his pediatrician about it.

Tiger

11-16-2006, 09:29 AM

Wow it has been a long time since I have posted in here. I come in and read all of the time, but just never find the time to post.

Let me see if I can catch up....

Thanksgiving We will be spending TG with the IL's. DH's grandmother was just diagnosed with pancreas cancer and isn't doing too well so I don't think it's going to be a very good holiday for us. As for what DD will wear. I haven't picked out anything special for Thanksgiving. I skipped right to her Christmas outfit. ;) She will be wearing this from Old navy with black tights and a black turtleneck onesie underneath.
http://www.oldnavy.com/Asset_Archive/ONWeb/Assets/Product/443/443967/main/on443967-01p01v01.jpg

merging threads I would love to merge with the Sept. mommies, especially since I lurk in there all of the time anyway.

vitamins No vitamins here although I should look into it because we struggle to get any veggies into DD.

naps We are still in the 2 nap category. However, her naps are usually only 30-45 minutes so I would love to combine them into one long nap.

utensils We haven't even started this yet. DD loves to play with them but hasn't made the association with eating off of them yet.

Gotta run to a meeting now.

lorialys

11-16-2006, 10:12 AM

Hey everyone, I sent an email to the mod of the september mommies group. Hopefully someone over there gets that! I'll let you know what I hear.

Kelly's Girl

11-16-2006, 12:30 PM

merging- I guess I'm in the minority, but I would rather not. I guess I'm just possessive of our little group and would like to keep it that way.

Me, too. Selfishly, I have a preemie Oct. baby who seems to be behind other Octies in some ways and if I start comparing him to Sept. babies, I might go out of my head with worry!

hmbay

11-16-2006, 12:53 PM

I'm already on the Sept group so it doesn't bother me but there are Aug mommies in the Sept group too so as Kelly's Girl stated there might be some big age/ability discrepencies.

jenjen0713

11-16-2006, 01:24 PM

Me, too. Selfishly, I have a preemie Oct. baby who seems to be behind other Octies in some ways and if I start comparing him to Sept. babies, I might go out of my head with worry!

Exactly, that was what I was trying to say but couldn't find the words. Even though DS was born at the first of the month, he is usually one of the last to do things (get teeth, sit up, crawl, etc.) I'm just a paranoid first time mother who shouldn't compare, but I know I would. :o

godsgift77

11-16-2006, 07:54 PM

MCL - lets do something the first of the year! I know how crazy it can be at this time of year... :)

Has anyone picked out what their dc will be wearing for Christmas? I also skipped right to Christmas with clothes but i an't find a pic of his outfit online... its a silver/grey/charcoal sweater vest with a french horn blue dress shirt underneath and a silver/grey/charcoal/blue tie. He'll wear it with black pants. its SO cute - i just need to find shoes to match...

Gabe's Mom

11-16-2006, 09:42 PM

My little guy is also tending to run behind even though he is an Oct. 4 baby. I just try to keep reminding myself that there is a range for milestones.

Speaking of milestones, my litttle peanut is taking steps as of today! He is doing so well on standing up now (not very long, but definately better than Sunday.) At a friends house, he just started to take steps! It was crazy! She had her video recorder right there so she taped it! Very cool.

Vitamins - I am giving Gabe Poly-vi-sol. We started it a long time ago per ped recommendations and haven't stopped it. Admit he doesn't get it every day. He doesn't eat much meat etc... so am a bit concerned that he may not be getting enough iron. He is a poor eater as well and on the small side (19 pounds, 4 oz) so I really want to make sure he is getting his vitamins. Am going to ask the ped about it at the next appt. Has anyone had their baby's iron levels tested?

dragonfly_71

11-17-2006, 04:29 AM

Vitamins: We got a prescription for vitamins with fluoride at his 1 year appointment since he is not getting formula anymore. He doesn't get them every day though because he hates them and it is a fight to get him to take a spoonful.

Utensils: He started using utensils at daycare but from what I have seen he holds his spoon in his right hand and eats his cereal with the left hand. He also will just wave the spoon around and then put it in his mouth. I think he thinks that is how food gets on it because he looks surprised every time that the spoon is empty. I used to spear his food on a fork and then hand him the fork and he would feed himself from there. But that was many months ago, I don't know why we got away from that. I think he got impatient with us and wanted us to just put his food on his tray so he could pick it up himself. I have a suspision my little guy might be left handed. I think I will try helping him with his spoon holding it in his left hand and see if that goes any better.

hmbay

11-17-2006, 06:13 AM

vitamins--they prescribed them when he was a baby but I quit giving them to him months ago. I wonder if I'm supposed to be?

untensils--no real interest in using them to eat. If I give them to him he either plays with them, chews on them or throws them at the dog. :)

1_mommy

11-17-2006, 08:49 AM

vitamins-Kai has the liquid vitamins and i give them to him every morning. the only reason i remember to give it to him every morning is Kaimi takes her vitamin, so i remember to give Kai his.

utensils-Kai knows what to do with them, it just doesn't work the way he wants it too. he gets so flustrated at dinner when he can't get the food on his fork, or when he does get it, it falls off before he can get it in his mouth.
we have these great forks that are like a fork and spoon in one, so it helps him get more food tis way

Kanga

11-17-2006, 09:12 AM

vitamins - we were prescribed tri-vi-sol at one of our visits, can't remember which one though, but the few times we gave them to her it made her constipated even at half doses so we did away with them. I wasn't really worried as we didn't live in a basement without any light or anything, so she got plenty of sunlight. I will give her a multi vitamin when she is mostly on table food if she starts refusing to eat a lot of things that would prohibit a balanced diet.

iron check - they do this at 15 mo at our ped, along with checking led levels. She said she did it based on some recommendation... the AAP I think. I don't forsee us being weaned by then so we'll decline it, although since they have to draw for lead anyways I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm also going to see if insurance will cover a titer check for my own curiosity. If it does, we'll get one, otherwise we'll wait.

naps - still at 2 naps. She was waking at 6-7am and going to bed at the same time, so it was difficult to get in two naps without pushing bedtime way later. We tried 1 nap and it was a disaster and lead to meltdowns from an overtired baby, so back at 5:30a wake up and 2 naps it is.

jh124

11-17-2006, 10:19 AM

Merging/Thread Dating - (since it sounds like y'all are dating a new group. "November is taken, but September is still free. - LOL) I understand why some would want to merge the threads, but I'm voting against. I like our little group. Perhaps in a few months, if more people drop out or are MIA, but for now it seems we have more than enough traffic in here. It's hard enough to catch up with three days worth of postings. With a new group, it would be even more difficult.

cartersmommy

11-17-2006, 10:41 AM

i am against, too. is there a reason we'd merge? i love our little group, and would like to keep it small and just us. but thats just my opinion :)

Kelly's Girl

11-17-2006, 01:38 PM

Shoe question- my DS wears softie shoes like Robeez. He's the baby of his daycare class and the only one not yet walking. His teacher told my DH that if we bought him "real" shoes, like hard soled, he'd walk faster. I always thought that they like the soft shoes when they were first walking b/c they can grip the floor better?

scubasam

11-17-2006, 02:02 PM

I don't personally think that when they start walking has anything to do with what shoes they wear....but I do think that having something soft soled (Robeez and the like) are better for their feet when they're learning. Before he started walking/was learning to walk, I put Robeez on Carter at daycare (or he'd go barefoot since it's an in-home daycare) and he went barefoot at home.

jh124

11-17-2006, 02:10 PM

hmbay

11-17-2006, 02:10 PM

shoes--nope until they have established walking they should be in a soft-soled shoe or barefoot. Alex has been barefoot or in Robeez the entire time. I was actually thinking of taking him to the StrideRite outlet this weekend to get his first "real" shoes since it's getting cold here and will snow soon and Robeez won't really be appropriate when we go outside if he wants to walk (which he wants to do more and more).

EJM

11-17-2006, 02:20 PM

Walking-- What a load of crap. I think if my daycare provider said that to me I would ask her to see her medical degree, and if she couldn't provide one to leave the advice to my pediatrician. ;)

1_mommy

11-17-2006, 02:33 PM

i agree with the others. they will walk at their own pace, and a hard sole shoe may be a little harder to learn with, the shoe is heavier, so it makes it arder to lift up their little feet. i waited untill Kai was pretty good at walking before i bought him a real shoe

Kelly's Girl

11-17-2006, 03:18 PM

Thank y'all for the input. It sounded fishy to me, too, but she has such good intentions that I can't fault her for trying to be helpful. DS just adores her, bad shoe advice and all!

amtaylor

11-17-2006, 06:43 PM

Mackenzie's been wearing strideRites to school since mid-summer. She's walking now, but I know it has NOTHING to do with the shoes. Another mother in my pediatrician's waiting room told us that they were the reason she wasn't walking before one year. I just wish everyone would keep their unsolicited opinions to themselves. After all... my opinions always right ;)

Kanga

11-17-2006, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Kelly's Girl
Shoe question- my DS wears softie shoes like Robeez. He's the baby of his daycare class and the only one not yet walking. His teacher told my DH that if we bought him "real" shoes, like hard soled, he'd walk faster. I always thought that they like the soft shoes when they were first walking b/c they can grip the floor better?

Is the daycare teacher in her 50's? I ask because MIL and my mom are in their 50's and both said the same thing as your teacher. I personally think it's better for them to be barefoot or in robeez type shoes because they are more in tuned to their feet whereas with hard soled shoes it's hard to tell exactly what part of your foot is on the ground when. Also, dd had trouble (and still does even though she never crawls much anymore) going from all-fours to standing with hard soled shoes. The toes got in the way which then lead to tantrums. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I was also afraid she would twist her ankle or something in hard soled shoes.

Merging threads - If I had to pick one or the other, I'd pick merging, but really I don't care either way. I'm happy as we are now, but would be just fine with another group.

DianeCourt

11-18-2006, 07:14 AM

Is the daycare teacher in her 50's? I ask because MIL and my mom are in their 50's and both said the same thing as your teacher.

Ha! DD isn't walking yet either, and last weekend my mom, who is 55, said that SAME thing. She was like "I'm going to get Lily a pair of hard soled shoes. I think it will help with her learning to walk. She's slipping too much with the shoes she has now (Robeez)." I was just like "OK, mom." Whatever. If she wants to go buy her shoes like that, I'm not going to start a big debate with her. I'll just put them on her when grandma comes over and that's it! :rolleyes:

I'm a big fan of soft soled shoes when they're learning to walk and I'll keep DD in them until we start walking outside.

godsgift77

11-19-2006, 12:35 AM

ds was barefoot (no robeez or anything) until he started walking. At most, he had on socks with the gripper writing on the bottom...

Michelle and Curtis

11-19-2006, 09:34 AM

Definitely do nopt put real shoes on your little one. It's way too hard for them to be able to bend their feet to learn to walk. Axel has been walking for about a month and we still don't put shoes on his feet. (Well, that's partly because his feet are still so round that I can't find shoes to fit!) LOL You shouldn't try real shoes until they have mastered walking.

Michelle and Curtis

11-19-2006, 09:41 AM

Vitamins...
Axel doesn't take any but Skylar has been taking them since he was 2. Just over the conter My First Flinstones vitamins. It gives me some peace of mind on those nights when he refuses to eat anything.

Michelle and Curtis

11-19-2006, 06:40 PM

I am so happy right now that I am actually crying! My husband and I just got off the phone with his parents, (they live in Michigan), and it sounds like they will be coming here for Chrismas!!! I've never been so happy! They haven't even seen Axel yet, except in pictures and now they'll be here to see the kids for the holiday!

The only thing I don't understand is why isn't Curtis happy? He just seemed kinda, "eh", about the idea.

Well, gotta get Curtis up for work...night everyone! :D

hmbay

11-19-2006, 08:50 PM

Michelle and Curtis--I'm glad your IL's will be able to come for the holidays. Even if your DH isn't all that thrilled I'm sure the boys will be happy to see their grandparents.

Gabe's Mom

11-19-2006, 09:46 PM

Just had to stop in and announce that my late bloomer is walking as of tonight! Several steps in a row, with a purpose to go somewhere or get something! Amazingly, both mom and dad watched together as Gabe took his steps!

godsgift77

11-19-2006, 10:20 PM

All kinds of good news tonight! YAY for Gabe and Grandparents! :D

hmbay

11-20-2006, 07:18 AM

Yay Gabe!

Kelly's Girl

11-20-2006, 05:04 PM

Michelle, I think it is so sweet that you're that pumped over your inlaws coming in for the holidays! Even though mine live about an hour away (and MIL works in our same town), they rarely see DS. I am just not sure I'd have the same joyous reaction to a visit from the IL!

Go Gabe! Very exciting!

No big news here, except DS's nose is a faucet and his chest is rattly. We're going to the ped. tomorrow to make sure he doesn't go south b/f we head to the country for T'giving. ENT re-check is the following a.m.- 3 weeks post tube surgery. He seems okay with the cotton balls in his ears during bath time so far.

No walking yet but lots more chatter- except that it's mostly gibberish. Seems like we're on the verge of something more than "ma ma ma" and "da da da" but nothing definite. I guess I have my own "Leo the Late Bloomer". :)

Hope everyone's DC stays well and enjoys Turkey Day.

1_mommy

11-21-2006, 02:03 PM

Kai had his wbv today:

20 lbs 5 oz
29.5 in

dragonfly_71

11-21-2006, 06:37 PM

Shoes: Alex has been barefoot (not even robeez) the whole time until just recently and he started walking a few days before his first birthday which I think is pretty average. However, I do have to say here that my sister would not walk until the day my mom bought her her first pair of shoes. She wore the shoes home from the store because she refused to let us take them off even to take off the stickers and when we got home she took her first steps. She was around 14 months by that time and it was probably coincidence but I know that because of this experience my mom also thinks babies need shoes to walk.

talking: Alex communicates pretty well mostly with gestures and noises. Like he will make sucking noises and move his hand to his mouth when he wants his pacifier. He gets very impatient if we don't get what he wants. He also understands a lot from what I can tell both English and German but the few words he says are all in English: mamama, no no no, more (sounds like mah), milk, hello (sounds like hou). Well actually there is one German word he says "namnamnam" which is babytalk and means food but he uses it to mean bottle (yes we still have two bottles a day, bad mommy I know).

Alex is transitioning to the toddler room at school. I can't believe how big my little baby has gotten. As a transition present I got him this blanket, I think it is so cute but I had to find a reason to justify buying it because he already has plenty of blankets.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000BR3U3Q.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS384_.jpg

Michelle and Curtis

11-21-2006, 07:42 PM

Well, the other night Skylar and I decided to sweep his bedroom floor. I plugged the vaccum in and all of the sudden half of the upstairs shuts off. I didn't flip the breaker because the vaccum wasn't even on yet, I just plugged it into the outlet and "POOF!" no more electricity. So I called my landlord, (the ONLY perk about renting), and he sent an electrician down to check things out. Two hours later and still no answer. He told me they may have to open up a wall to find out the problem. He came back today and it turns out that one of the outlets in the kids' room was bad. He replaced it and all is much better now. But all of this fuss meant two late nights for both kids. Lucky for me I am off work for the next 5 days! Yippee!!! :D

Here's what the kids got from Santa so far:

Skylar:
Disney Cars Mountain Challenge Track
Disney Cars Willy's Butte Track
V Smile T.V.
Disney Cars Mack Truck Play Set
Disney Cars Bath Set
Magna Doodle Jr. (With Cars theme, of course)

Axel:
Roll-a-Rounds Catipiliar
Roll-a-Rounds Airplane
Train Play Set
Fisher Price Grand Piano

I know that we went a little overboard this year. I spent sooooo much and my sister and brother and my aunts and uncles will still buy them things too. Oops! :rolleyes:

Talking:
Axel says, Mama, Dada, ball, up, no, and bye bye. He also will point to your nose and mouth when you ask him where they are. He blows kisses and gives hugs. Communication-wise he is learning much faster than his brother did and I'd have to guess that is because he does have an older brother.

One more thing, (then I swear I will shut up), I was reading Parents magazine and I saw that Axel's name made it into the top 185 coolest names! Yippee!!! :D

godsgift77

11-21-2006, 07:47 PM

Hey all...

Just stopped by to drop off my latest movies...

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=71684&cdate=20061119&cimg=0

This is going to be CJs birthday gift to his dad :)
http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=71684&cdate=20061120&ctime=184008

cartersmommy

11-21-2006, 07:59 PM

O-- that is awesome! i love the dada video!! too cute!

EJM

11-21-2006, 08:18 PM

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

We are off to the ILs early tomorrow which usually means no internet.

lorialys

11-22-2006, 05:47 AM

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

mcl

11-22-2006, 06:23 AM

O- those are the cutest videos. i do love the one you're giving to your ds.

congrats to all the walking/talking children.

we're heading to the san francisco bay area today for a week, having thanksgiving at the IL's.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! WE ALL HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR.

cartersmommy

11-22-2006, 08:36 AM

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday... I am thankful for each and every one of you, and all of our wonderful, HEALTHY babies!! :) we are SO lucky

Kanga

11-22-2006, 09:11 AM

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We too will be all over the state in the next few days between gmas, my parents, IL's, and holiday shopping so limited cc time.

godsgift77

11-22-2006, 06:51 PM

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!

A good QOTD would be what are you thankful for?

I am thankful that my husband survived the fall off of the ladder, I survived my stint in the hospital, my son saw his first birthday (a rarety in some countries) and i have a ton of friends and family!

Eliezrah

11-22-2006, 06:56 PM

Hey everyone! So sorry I've been MIA. I had knee surgery 2 weeks ago and only have jsut been able to sit at the computer for more than 5 mins at a time. I'm on crutches for another 4 weeks, which is not going to be easy with 2 toddlers running around! Last week DH stayed home to take care of us and this week the kids and I were at my parents', we're going home tomorrow. I have this machine I'm hooked up to for 6 hours a day.. YIKES!! Not easy to do! I'm a bit nervous for Monday since that'll be my first day home alone with the kids and on crutches!! I do have a handipcapped thingy for my car and the doc said I can try to drive at the end of this week, but I'm not sure if I'm quite ready yet.

I also lost 2 of my grandparents within 2 weeks of each other so we had 2 funerals and my mom and her sisters were sitting Shiva as well.

Since I was so far behind I didn't get to read everything, but I browsed a bit and will reply to a few things that I remember!

Merging threads as the mom of a former preemie (OMG she's now officially been released of any and all things preemie related! YIPPEE!) I know how hard it is trying not to compare your kids to their peers, let alone to babies that are older than them. For that reason, I'd be against it for any of the preemie moms in our group.

Forks Seth can totally feed himself with a fork now and will fuss if we don't give him one! It's too cute and funny since Jackie refuses to use hers! LOL

Thanksgiving I don't have pics of his outfit, but he'll be wearing a greenish/ brownish plaid shirt with a cute sweater vest (all from Children's Place) and brown pants. Jackie's also wearing a CP outfit. I'll post pics after tomorrow.

Had other stuff to say, but I forgot! Have a great TUrkey Day and I'll post more when I get home and remember more! LOL

Eliezrah

11-22-2006, 06:57 PM

Ohhh, QOTD (we cross posted) is that I'm thankful for my 28 weeker not only surviving (3 years on Tues), but even more so for the fact that she has no preemie complications at all and is ahead of her peers as well!!!

dragonfly_71

11-23-2006, 07:57 AM

I'm thankful for the life I ended up with even though I wasn't heading anywhere near that direction. I always saw myself as a free spirit, unattached to worldly goods and one particular person (as in a husband). I had planned to travel the world and just see where the Universe would lead me. I never thought for a minute that I would end up a wife, a homeowner, working in the insurance business :rolleyes: (how much stuffier can you get) and a MOM, and that I would love every minute of it.

Michelle and Curtis

11-24-2006, 03:00 PM

I am Thankful for my family. (of course) I have the best husband and a great marriage. A great marriage seems to be like something everyone should be very grateful for cause we see so many couples close to us who are divorcing right now. I just so happy that we have each other and I'm so grateful for our two boys. Skylar almost didn't survive childbirth and I just can't believe he's 3 now. The tiome has just flown by. And there's Axel, talking and walking and finally giving us a peak of that great personality. I couldn't be happier.

scubasam

11-25-2006, 12:21 PM

Happy Thanksgiving (2 days late) to everyone!

We had a lovely time w/ my ILs as usual - I can't remember if I've mentioned but DH has 5 siblings so w/ all of their families, there's always 25-30 people at any given family function. So, it's always fun to see everyone and Carter has SO much fun w/ his cousins.

QOTD - I am thankful for God first and foremost, that I am blessed w/ an amazing DH & son (and rest of my family) and for the incredible friends in my life. That includes my cyber buddies here! Thank you for all that you guys are and making the last almost 2 year journey a fun and supportive one!! :D

Braved shopping yesterday....went out at 3pm instead of the morning though...and had a ton of fun w/ my gf Sarah. Picked up some goodies for Carter at Gymboree (damn that place...lol!!) and had an amazing dinner w/ a couple yummy martinis that were a bit more strong than they should've been...LOL. Hanging out at home today and maybe do a bit more shopping for toys. Gawd....Toys R Us was insane yesterday. Then I went to just order online instead but the shipping cost was as much as the 2 toys I wanted! So, we'll be trying the store again today I think.

Should find out this weekend whether we're on the RO list or not too. Tested this morning and it was BFP but then realized I accidentally tested w/ a O stick. :o :p So, will be heading out for a pg test today. Wish me luck!

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!!!

cartersmommy

11-25-2006, 01:20 PM

jen,
good luck!! i didn't know you were trying!! congrats and good luck!! :)

godsgift77

11-25-2006, 03:09 PM

Jen -- Good luck!! :)

godsgift77

11-25-2006, 03:29 PM

I forgot to add these. CJs Christmas Card pics... I think we are going to use the one with him alone...
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l270/godsgift77/1yrfampor.jpg?t=1164493735
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l270/godsgift77/1yrCJwitbear.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l270/godsgift77/1yrChrisnChris.jpg

jenjen0713

11-25-2006, 08:07 PM

O - OMG, what great pictures! You sure have a great looking family! BTW, love, love the video of you singing happy birthday and CJ chiming in! How in the world did you get him to do that??

scubasam - Ohhhh, good luck!! I hear you about the big family get togethers. DH is one of 9 kids and all but two of them were at Thanksgiving this year, so it was a full house with all the spouses and kids.

EJM

11-25-2006, 08:18 PM

O: Cute photos!

Jen: Good luck! I'm one of 6, and I love getting together with the whole crew.

QOTD: I am very thankful for my wonderful, loving DH, a terrific DD, my dog, my family, and my health!

Thanksgiving was so terrible! I won't post all the blah details, but even poor DH was ready to be done with his parents after 48 hours. Who complains about their own grandchildren? :mad: To top it off, I actually woke up around 2am on Friday with the flu. OMG, I haven't been that sick in forever. We were so desperate to leave my ILs that DH packed the car and we drove 2 hours home (with a few extra bags for me just in case :p ). It was the longest ride of my life, but we made it. He was awesome about entertaining DD yesterday and I slept a ton -- he even told me how much he appreciates what I do everyday and I totally have my hands full. ;) DH has decided he'll be making Thanksgiving Part Deux tomorrow night so we can relax and enjoy a Turkey Day meal.