October 2003 Moms and Kids

[Renrel]

I worked last night and DH had Gabe for the evening. When DH picked him up Gabe told DH that he was going to take his purple cookie and that they were going to the mall. That this was "a Good Plan." DH agreed and that is what they did. Gabe loves the rides at the mall where you put a quarter in and the thing goes. They also had dinner at the food court. Chinese food. And Gabe got to play his first air hockey game. He sat on the table and hit the "coin thing" into "the hole". DH did not block the goal and Gabe kept creeping closer and closer to the goal. They had a good time. I was home as bath was ending so I got to do bedtime. We have been reading Winnie the Poo for a few nights now. Much to my surprise Gabe seems to be really into it, even though there are very few picture. When I pick up the book he immediately wants to crawl into my lap so I can read to him. So we are slowly developing a bedtime routine. Bath, diaper, pjs, nursing (sometimes), I read a story, Teeth brushing and then DH reads a story or two. Then I nurse if gabe did not nurse earlier. Then a sip of water and he gets into his crib. He if goes willingly with out crying I will sit with him a few minutes. If he screams then I leave "because it hurts my ears" when he screams. This is not quite happening this way every night but we are getting there. This morning was sweet. I went to get gabe and he laid there and said he wanted "the daddy." That is so rare. I immediatley got DH, who got him out of the crib and gave him a morning hug before Gabe reached for me so he could nurse.

[kerrykate]

Thank you everyone for the congrats. It's still sinking in. Those of you that already have DC #2(& #3;)) or are pg did you start showing MUCH sooner? I'm only 4 weeks and I feel so bloated already.

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: Initially I felt much bigger, but that feeling eased up a little after about 7-8 weeks. After that, it wasn't until about 13-14 weeks that I really started to show. I've been in maternity clothes full time since about 16 weeks. I could have pushed it longer, but it was just uncomfortable by the end of the day. I didn't need them with Mia full time until closer to 20 weeks- so it's definately sooner, but not unreasonable.
How are you feeling????

Jenyfer: How are the boys feeling? Did you get results on TJ?

Renrel: Glad to hear there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for bedtime. We've been trying to be tougher with limits on the number of stories and trips to the potty at night. Mia seems to be responding well.

[Renrel]

Errin - I just notice a post in Pregnancy from Taraw which sounds like she is having the same pg issue you are. Thought you might want to know.

[AlisonCO]

kerrykate - Pretty much Ditto to what erinn said. I was so bloated with Caitlin from 4-8 weeks but then it was better. I too was in maternity pants by 15-16 weeks because I just couldn't stand it. How are you feeling?

Renrel - "the daddy" is SO cute - must have made DH's day!

[mittyrd]

I was in maternity pants by week 6 :eek: :eek:

I never waver from our bedtime routine (yes, I am the same mom who said I would never be a slave to my kids' routines!) and bedtime is pretty easy. Although for the last week or so, Jake has wanted me to lie down with him to go to sleep (both arms around my neck - awwww - who could resist?). It does get hard though if the twins are having trouble settling down though. My goal is to have them all in bed at 7 pm and asleep by 7:30 pm. Usually this works but sometimes Jake stretches it out to 8 pm by constantly calling me back. Sometimes I keep going back which is what prolongs it but if I don't then he'll fall asleep.

Jake just came down with another cold. :mad: I can't wait until this season is over!

[Renrel]

Mittyrd - In bed by 7! Wow I am impressed. We are usually still eatting dinner when your boys are already in pjs. We are happy if DS is in bed by 9 and a sleep by 9:30. I don't think we could do it any earlier unless we go back to feeding Gabe seperately which we don't want to do. I guess if I was willing to get up early enough in the morning to be at work by 7:30 I could get out of work by 4:30 and maybe we could get things done earlier, but I don't think it would work well. I doubt I would go to bed early enough to make up the time and would be running on fumes before very long. I think I would miss our evening play time as well if we moved bedtime earlier than 8:30. But it must be nice to have several hours of adult time at night. I kinda remember that from when Gabe was much younger.

[mittyrd]

But it must be nice to have several hours of adult time at night.

LOL - yah right!! From 7:30 - 8:30 I make bottles, clean up, fold laundry, etc. and then we are in bed by 8:30!! Pretty sad that your 2 year old stays up later than us!!

We're up at 5 am to start our day to be out of the house by 6 am for DH & the twins and 6:30 am for me & Jake.

[AlisonCO]

and then we are in bed by 8:30!! Pretty sad that your 2 year old stays up later than us!!


Right there with you - except I stay up until 9 to watch TV or read occasionally:) Ahhh the life of a mom - we are such party animals!

[Jenyfer9]

Yeah, I know... for some reason we were up the other night until like 11 and it seemed SOOOO late!

My boys are in bed (usually) by 7 as well. Sometimes we make it more like 7:30 (if there's a special occasion or something), but winter is so blah anyways so why not? :)

[Renrel]

Interesting how everyone has a different schedule.

For us I am up at about 6:30 and I get Gabe up at 7:00, we are out of the house about 8:00. We get home around 6ish. I nurse and play with Gabe while DH cooks. DH and I try to talk abit during this time as well. I might help a bit with dinner and usually set the table. We start eatting dinner anywhere from 6:30 to 7:30, depending mostly on when DH was able to start it and how complex the meal is. Then bath happens soom after dinner anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30, which can take 3 minutes to 30 minutes. I try to clear the dinner mess while DH does the bath. Then there is diapering, pjs, a mommy story(ies), brushting teeth, daddy story(ies), nursing and into the crib sometime between 9:00 and 9:30. I often sit with him till 9:45 or even 10:00. Then I relax and watch tv or post on line or talk to DH until I go to bed anytime from 10:30 to 11:30. I used to have to make lunch than but now daycare does that. I might fold laundry if it is around while I watch TV. It is not unually for me to turn the light out around midnight. We make up some sleep on the weekends by sleeping late.

[AlisonCO]

Bumping us up!

It was bitter cold this weekend and I cannot wait until spring! I SO want to go outside to play for a change. Aidan is becoming very sensitive about certain stuff. Yesterday we read a book where a monkey watches a bunch of other animal moms hug their kids and the monkey is sad because he wants a hug. By this point in the book, Aidan is seriously almost in tears, Luckily the monkey finds his mom on the next page and gets a big hug. He also got really sad this morning because Caitlin was crying.

We also started a new rule during meal times this weekend. We set the microwave timer for 15 minutes and he has to sit at the table until the buzzer goes off. Before he was always asking to get up and it was driving us crazy. He sat for lunch and dinner both days for 15 minutes and did great. I think that I might take him to a kitchen store and let him pick out a cool timer.

Hope that you all are staying warm and healthy!

A couple of new pictures:

A self portrait:
http://www.allsam.com/FEB2006/images/021806_21.jpg

Aidan riding his motorcycle last week:
http://www.allsam.com/FEB2006/images/021806_38.jpg

Caitlin - 5 months:
http://www.allsam.com/FEB2006/images/021806_24.jpg

[Jenyfer9]

Alison: Wow! Caitlin is getting so big! That's a good idea with the timer thing. We are starting to have the same issue with TJ... he'll sit only as long as HE wants and then gets up (hard to keep him seated when he isn't in a highchair) and goes off to play. He does really well in restaurants and at my parents, just not at home. Go figure.

It was SUPER cold here as well... our high on Saturday was only like 3 degrees. I'm also very anxious for spring... if nothing else, maybe our colds will go away! We still haven't figured out what exactly is wrong with TJ's intestinal issues... all the tests came back negative. But now we cut out most carbs and all dairy (per doc's request) and he's all clogged up! I'll have to "jump start" him (so to speak) today with something. :rolleyes:

[Renrel]

Allison - It is great that Aidan is showing such strong empathy. It means he is developing very well socially. Though I am sure it is hard to see him so sad. The timer idea sounds good. At house the issues is more demanding dessert before dinner is over. If he has eatten a few bites of his dinner I will often let him have dessert. Which is usually fruit anyway. And would you believe it, half the time he will go back to eatting his main course after he finishes dessert. Tonight was funny though. He asked for dessert and we offered cantalope. He said no but than he rethought it and decided to call it banalope. DH than said it was special cantalope grown by the Bantu trib. Then Gabe wanted the special dessert. And he kept going into the kitchen wanting to get another piece by himself and bring it back to the table. When he dropped a piece he wanted to go get a paper towel himself, which was not working to well given it is at adult height and his stepping stool did not really let him reach. He is so into doing himself these days.

Jen - Sorry you still have no answers on the tummy issues. Not knowing can be the worst.

We had a fun if cold weekend. Saturday a trip to the libary, Sunday a trip to the Sience Museum and today a trip to Target. Gabe was soooo good at the strore today. I was amazed. No fussing at all. Granted we did not do too much shopping before I let him look at toys but enough that I would have expected a fuss. I also finally set up the little peoples castle I bought him several weeks ago in the after christmas sales. He seems to like it.

[jay&erinn]

Jenyfer: Could TJ have a food allergy? I'm not sure how food allergies are expressed, but I wouldn't be surprised if his intestinal problems were a symptoms. Maybe bring it up with your doc and see if allergy testing would be beneficial. Good luck- it's got to be frustrating.

Alison: The kids are so cute. I can't believe how big Caitlin is either. She's adorable. Aiden looks like he does pretty well pedaling a bike. Mia still has problems reaching most of the pedals:rolleyes:
I really like the timer idea for meals. I'll have to try that. During breakfast and lunch, there isn't a problem. Sometimes she'll sit there for an hour. However, dinner is much more of a struggle. She would rather play than come eat.
Mia's always been a little empathetic towards other kids (always concerned when she hears kids cry at the store, etc), however it's definately increased lately. We were watching Lion King and she almost cries when the dad is killed. She sits there and says over and over, "he needs to wake up his Daddy." It almost makes me cry seeing her like that.

Renrel: Thanks for the heads up on Taraw- I went right over and posted. Hopefully it'll help put her mind at ease- at least a little.

We've finally gotten Mia to wear PJs at night again:D It's been so cold here too so she's been waking up cold in the middle of the night. Last night she agreed to wear her Strawberry Shortcake nightgown. She has it on again tonight. YEA! Of course, an hour after I put her in her crib she was calling me and saying something else. I couldn't understand her, so I went to check on her. As soon as I walked in, she said, "Mommy, I stuck." She had pulled her knees up under her nightgown and then got her toes stuck on the hem. She couldn't get her legs back down. It was pretty funny.

Bedtime routine: We've become much stricter in this department. I moved all of her books out of our bedroom (that's where bedtime takes place). I let her pick 3 books to take into our bed to read. Once they're done, that's it. It's much easier now that the other books aren't sitting right there for her to see. If she wants me to read one a second time, she has to give up one of her other stories for the night. After books, it's potty time and brushing teeth. Then back in the rocker to talk about her day- then bedtime. I feel a little mean denying her another story, but I just can't take these 1 hour bedtime rituals that only seem to be getting longer. Now they're down to 30-45 minutes- much more tolerable.

[kerrykate]

Thanks everyone for the replies about the bloating, it seems to be tapering off and I'm feeling pretty good except for these crazy raging nose bleeds I keep getting.

The most embarrassing thing happened yesterday. Lauren and I were at hhgregg shopping for appliances for the new house and the man that was helping us was really really obese. All the sudden Lauren starts saying, "Mom look at the mans big giant belly. Mom, he has a big, big, big belly. Wow, he has a giant belly mom.":eek: OMG, I was mortified. I don't know if he heard her because he kept talking right over her, or maybe he was just trying to ignore her. I was discretely telling her that was enough, hush, etc... but it was so embarrassing my face had to be bright red. Now I'm worried that when my belly gets big that she's going to start asking large people male or female if they also have a baby in their belly.

Bedtime: We(I) usually try to start bath around 7:15-7:30, then I get her jammies on and we lay on the couch and she drinks her milk and eats a snack and we read books. Then I take her up stairs and brush her teeth and put her in bed between 8:15-8:30 read 1-2 more books and that's it. Dh has been going right from work over to the house to work on it so I make dinner and bring it over there so L gets to see him. It's much easier to get her in bed when he's not home. L knows her Daddy is a push over and can stall a lot more when he's around.

Alison~ Adorable pics, the kids are getting so big:)

[Renrel]

Kerrykate - I have been dreading that moment you described, I think all kids got through it. They just like to describe what they see, big, tall, fat, thin, black, white. To them it is all neutral, no insult intended. So how do you teach them that it is rude and can be hurtful without teaching them biases we don't want them to have?

[Renrel]

Tomorrow evening one of my best friends is coming into town for a confrence and I am planning to crash in her hotel room overnight so we can catch up a bit. I was very excited about this girls night but now I am starting to feel sad that I will not see Gabe tomorrow night or Thursday morning till lunch time. Silly really but I already miss him. I am also worried he will give DH a hard time in the morning when I am not there to nurse. He does fine for the grandparents, but in his own home with daddy, who knows.

Gabe was watching his Brainy Baby Spanish video today and after the lady on the video pronouced a word he would say "No", and than say the word himself, as if he was teaching her instead of the other way around. He has also started doing a strange short stall. He will lay down and than tell us "I am resting my body for TWO minutes." and then we have to just let him lay there for a little time or we get a tantrum. Oh and we have made progress in playing hide and seek. He now understands that he is supposed to count to 10 before he starts looking for us and vice a versa. But he still calls out to tell us where to find him.

[Renrel]

This morning Gabe picked out his own clothes and pretty much dressed himself for the first time. He needed a little help to keep from having both legs in one pant leg and getting his second arm into a tight onsie, and of course doing the neck snaps but this was the first time he has showns such independance in dressing himself. He was very proud. After we clapped and said yeah! He yelled WOOHOO! I was also happy because when I asked what color he wanted to wear today, to try and get him involved and avoid a fight over getting dressed he said "purple." He has no purple. In picking his own clothes he decided blue was purple.

[Jenyfer9]

Seems to be a day of firsts today...

First of all, I signed TJ up for PRESCHOOL for this fall... *sigh*. Actually, I think that it will be good for him since he's never really been to any sort of regularly scheduled daycare or anything.

Secondly, we were out walking around a local outdoor mall today (btw, it's BEAUTIFUL here today!), and TJ stops and says "Potty!" and basically stopped, and lifted his leg in the air (we have no male dogs, so I don't know WHERE he picked this up! :rolleyes: ). Then, a few steps later, he stopped again and said "more potty!" and lifted his leg again. So I'm thinking that since he is verbally ready to tell me when he's going, perhaps I should ask him more often so we can start working on using the potty more.

[Renrel]

Congrats on preschool. It will be a big a step for you as for him but I am sure you will both be happy once the transition is over. He will have fun and learn more independance and you will enjoy a few hours a week without a toddler in tow.

That is so funny about lifting his leg. LOL Gabe likes to give a debriefing. When I comment that he is poopy, he will tell me he also peed a little and then peed a little more. :rolleyes: He seems to have lost all interest in the potty though. Once every month or so he wants to use it and I think that is just a stall to avoid bedtime or to keep me with him reading potty stories. I am hoping when we are ready to get serious that finding a video will work as well as it has for learning letter sound, sign language and numbers. When he gets hooked on a video he talks about the subject all day long. But I am happy to wait till summer to start really trying to train him. Easier clothes to remove and the possiblity of going bottomless.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - I am glad to hear that Aidan isn't the only one that has completely lost interest inthe potty. A few weeks ago he was sitting on it every morning and before bath - now he always says No Potty and acts a bit freaked out at the idea. Yeah for Gabe dressing himself - Aidan only cares about taking things off not putting them on.

jenyfer - I am so jealous about preschool. The ones I like either won't take Aidan until he is actually 3 AND potty trained which truthfully I don't see happening by the fall. Aren't you excited to just have one kiddo again for a couple of hours?:)

kerrykate - I am with Renrel - absolutely terrified of the day where Aidan says something like that in public. He usually comments on people after the fact or in the car, but I know that one day soon he will just come right out and say it. He actually pointed to a woman in a wheelchair at Kohl's last weekend several times but was more interested in the big and small wheels not the "differentness" of the wheelchair.

erinn - I have avoided the Lion King for that reason - it is SO sad when the dad dies. I mean Aidan gets sad when Buzz Lightyears arm comes off in Toy Story:) Yeah for Mia wearing pj's - I can't imagine how she could sleep naked in the winter - I always forget that kids just don't seem to feel the heat and cold like we do!

I have to tell you all that the meal time timer has been awesome. He sat and ate for 25 minutes last night and NEVER asked to get up. He asked once when the timer would beep but that is it. Then when it beeps he is so proud and excited and says "yeah me - beep beep - yeah Aidan!"

He got complimented twice today by older ladies for his good manners - makes me proud. He said Thanks Mom once and please twice while we were out - so cute. Hopefully I can remember these times when he is a surly, hormonal teenager;)

[Jenyfer9]

About the preschool: it's actually a 2.5-3 year old class, so they only meet 2 days a week... but hey! It's something! I'm not sure I'll know what to do when I only have one kid to deal with! :) No one said anything about having to be potty trained (and it isn't anywhere in the literature either, that I've seen), so that isn't the issue. I kinda felt like I really had to do some sort of schooling for him because all his kid friends on our block all make the age cut-off, and TJ (as we all know) just misses it, hence, the 2.5-3 year old class. But these are kids that all miss the age cutoff, so I'm assuming that these might be kids that he'll be in school classes with when that starts.

[mittyrd]

Every time I want to come post, something else distracts me and it takes me forever to get here. :mad:

Alison: Beautiful pictures! Your kids are adorable.

Jenyfer: Jake's daycare provider said to me yesterday that I should sign him up for preschool b/c she thinks he'll be too smart for their group. Most of the kids will be younger than him also. I won't do it this for this fall since the twins will start going there then but the next year for sure. It seems like too soon for preschool, doesn't it??

I had a tough evening with Jake today. He was VERY fresh. First I couldn't get him to leave daycare, then he wanted to be chased around the cars in the driveway, then we went to Walmart and he would not go in the shopping cart. I let him walk most of the way but towards the end when I was afraid he was going to take off, I put him in but he wouldn't sit in the front only the back. Then he wouldn't walk back to the car holding my hand - he wanted to walk on his own. How can a little 2 year old be so friggin independent already?!? When we got home he wanted to eat but not sit in his seat so he threw his food on the floor. He got a time out, cried his heart out, then came back and was fine. At bedtime, he kept pulling me down to him with his arm around my neck and all snuggly. Then I wasn't mad anymore :rolleyes: (I guess he's a little manipulative...)

The babies have another cold. Ugh. That means another sleepness night checking on them constantly.

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: That stinks about the colds. Do you think they pick it up at day care or are more susceptible because they were premies? I have a good friend whos younger child had RSV and older child had croup last week. She still sent them to daycare since they didn't have fevers. I would have been really angry if my child were in that same center.

How can a little 2 year old be so friggin independent already
I think about this ALL the time. Mia's wanted to be very independent for quite a long time already. She hasn't ridden in a stroller in about a year (except for maybe 10 minutes to eat a snack), she puts her own shoes and clothes on and pitches a fit if I try to help- she now wants to zip her own coat and tie her own shoes. Of course she doesn't have the fine motor skills to do it, but gets really mad when we do it for her. I keep thinking how it's only going to get worse.

Preschool: Do your preschools/kindergartens have an earlier cut off for enrollment? I could probably push for Mia to go into preschool this fall, but then she'd have to be in preschool for 3 years since none of the kindergaten classes will accept her unless she's 5 by Sept 1st. Since she misses the cutoff by 3 weeks, I figure what's the point. If I can handle it with two kids, I may enroll her in another class once a week (either music, dance or swimming) to keep her with kids that are closer to her age.

Renrel: I'm jealous of your girls night out. That sounds like a blast. Of course, I'd feel the same way about leaving Mia, but I bet you have fun.

kerrykate: I dread those moments. I used to work in a daycare in a class with 3-4.5 year olds. We'd go out for a walk and you'd want to die at some of the things that were said. I think 2 year olds can't understand that they are making someone feel bad. By 3, we'd teach them that people come in all different shapes and sizes, and that sometimes commenting on those differences makes people feel bad.
Funny story from years ago on this subject:
I used to babysit for 2 families that were neighbors. Whenever I was at one house, I usually ended up taking both groups of kids to the playground together (5 kids in all from ages 3-6). There was an african american little boy playing by himself that was about the same age of the kids I was watching. I asked him if he wanted to play with us, and we started a game of I Spy. One of the kids said, "I spy something that is brown." The other kids are guessing and guessing, and finally the little boy jumps up and asked very excitedly, "Is it me?" I was so shocked, but the kids just kept going like it was nothing. I think it goes to show that if predjudice isn't taught in the home, kids really pay no attention to differences (other than to comment on them) until much older.

Alison: That's so funny that Aiden gets sad at that part of Toy Story. I'm looking for a new disney movie for Mia, but I'm trying to avoid those with death and dying. Seeing her so sad makes me sad. I thought about Monsters Inc (I've never seen it) until I saw the beginning. The monster being under the bed is every kids worst fear- I'm not sure that's a good thing for her to see just a few weeks before she moves into a regular bed.

Well, I feel like I'm getting HUGE. Even though I know it's very possible, I can't imagine how I'm going to make it 4 more months. I feel so big that I pulled out Mia's pregnancy journal to see how much I weighed with her. I started out 5 pounds heavier with this pregnancy and still weigh less than I did at 23 weeks with her. How can I weigh less and still be so much bigger?

[Renrel]

I had fun last night but this morning was tough. I did not plan it well. I figured I was in town so getting to work would be easier. I told DH I would meet him at the center at 8:30, about the time we usually get there. I forgot that if Gabe was not nursing in the morning they could get out of the house faster and that he would want to nurse when he saw me. And DH told him he could nurse when he got to daycare. I could have gotten there earlier if I had planned, but I showered first and did not tell my friend I was going to leave so I had to wait for her to finish to say goodbye. That was alittle before 8, but than it took me awhile to find the subway station I needed, I chose the wrong one to get out at and was totally confused as to where I was because they have done some construction in the area with the big dig. I also forgot to figure in having to get one car out of the garage and and than park the other one the garage. So I was actaully at daycare more like 8:45. Gabe told me "You were at school." With a slightly sad face. And he wanted to nurse. But there was no time and he was very upset. And then he wanted me to play a little bit, but I could only play for about a minute. And of course my hearing defaulted, so I was really not even needed at work. Well I did have to explain the default to the other party through a transator, but still. I feel like a bad mommy for not planning my time well enough to minimize the effect on Gabe. But DH said last night and this morning went well, other than what I described above.

[mittyrd]

Erinn: I'm not sure what the cutoff for preschools is for NH. In MA where I work and used to live it was 2 yr 9 months. My town is supposed to have mandatory kindergarten in 2007 or 2008 so hopefully that will happen and Jake can go there. Otherwise, I'll do preschool for a year and then private kindergarten for a year.

Matt & Sam are the only kids at their daycare. (It's Jake's daycare provider's SIL doing us a favor) so they didn't get it there. All of the kids at Jake's daycare have been sick off and on and then Jake comes in and licks the boys, coughs in their faces and gives them kisses so that's where they are getting it. I believe their prematurity makes them more at risk but they do get shots for RSV monthly which prevents them from getting really sick.

Had to share:
http://images.snapfish.com/346394663%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3257%3E3%3B%3A%3E357%3EWS NRCG%3D323354%3C6%3C%3B42%3Anu0mrj

and my goofy one:
http://images.snapfish.com/346394663%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3257%3E3%3B%3A%3E357%3EWS NRCG%3D323354%3C6%3C%3B429nu0mrj

[Renrel]

Mittyrd - Soooo cute! I can not believe those boys were premies. They are soooo big! Sorry about the tough night with Jake. I think they all go through periods of extreme independance. I can see sometimes how Gabe gets an idea in his head of how he wants to do something, down to the detail, and if we don't go along we are in for big headaches. I am not sure where to pull him in and where to let him have his way in areas where there is no safty issue or hurt/meaness to others, just inconvience and delay. DH thinks we are giving him too much control. I don't want to fight unnecessarily and like seeing how his mind works as he goes about things in his own way. But sometimes it does feel/look like he is the one in charge, not us.

Errin - As Mittyrd stated cut off for preschool is 2.9 in MA. I think kindergarden goes by individual town but that children must be enrolled in some school (or involved in homeschooling) by age 7 or 8. I looked it up a while ago and don't remember exactly. I am guessing that Gabe will not make a cut off for kindergarden but we will see. We have no idea where we will be living by then.

Alission -Glad the timer is working so well. Let me know if you find a really cute one. I have had my eye out but have not seen one I really like so far.

-
I goofed again at lunch today. To help me get out of daycare I took some necklaces with me and promised I would bring them back at lunch. Then :o I forgot:o . Bad mommy!. I was in a rush to get there earlier than usual to make up for this morning and when he came in from the playyard he smiled, said "hi" and asked for the necklaces. I told him I had forgotten them and was sorry. I asked if I should go get them now or bring them later. He said now. I asked if he was sure. He said yes. So I suggested he come with him. He was very excited about this and walked most of the way. He kept talking about how we were going to get mommy's office to get the necklaces, because she forgot and they belong to the kids. He also commente again that I was not at daycare this morning. He also noticed that my shoes made a big noice on the cememt (heeled boots) and his did not (sneakers). He decided that when he had black shoes with black socks his shoes would make noice too. I was amazed that he notice this difference in sound and could attribute it to a difference in the shoes, even if he had the wrong difference. At the office he was very friends, waving and saying hi and talking to all my work mates. Then we went back to school. The trip took over a half hour but it was fun. I had to run back to the office though.

[Renrel]

We had a fun but crazy weekend.
Saturday DH had a networking function and I took Gabe to the library. The childrens libarary is temporarily located in a school gym and on Saturdays they have a rumbus room where the kids can run around. I lost track of time and we did not leave till after 1pm. So Gabe had a late nap and then I napped and we did not wake up till 5pm, so the schedule was shot. We all went food shopping together and than had left overs for dinner. Gabe got to bed around 10pm after we skipped his bath.

Sunday we picked up my friend and her boyfriend from their hotel and all headed down to China Town for Dim Sum. It was fun but the boyfriend did not feel well and was not eatting. Gabe had his first taste of lobster and this tapico dessert/soup. He like both.

At the last minute we decided we were going to attend my DH's cousins birthday party at a chinese resturant. He was going to blow it off because he forgot it was her 50th, but we could not blow off a 50th, so we were taking my friend and Gabe to the party. No time find a babysitter. So after dropping the boyfriend off we went to the party. It was supposed to start at 7 but the guest of honor was probably not there till at least 7:30. It was alot of fun though and Gabe did great. The main dish served was peaking Duck and it was excellent. Gabe tried if first duck and his first water chestnuts and like both. I had brought this book Gabe has that has a little electronic piano attatched and songs to play by color. He pulled it out, turned to happy birthday and "played" the song as he sang it too her. The whole table applauded and he was very pleased with himself. We finally left the party around 9:30, at which point Gabe was literally running in circles (there were only two other tables of people and there was a lot of room. He was not bothering anyone not in our partyk, and our party was having fun with him.) He was very wired and we did not get him to sleep until 11:00, although he really did not not stall much. But he had to do his whole routine, bath, books, teeth etc.

He was doing better than I was this morning. I am already waiting for next weekend so I can rest.

[Jenyfer9]

Wow! Busy weekend! Is it bad that Gabe stayed up later than I did, Renrel? :p

My IL's were in town... and let me tell you, in small doses, they're fine. Anything more than about 24 hours with them and I'll start going batty. :D

[Renrel]

Gabe did not have to bad a reaction to the lack of sleep. He apparently did not want to get up from his nap at daycare but otherwise was happy all day. He was fairly cranky last night though. He had alot of trouble letting go of whatever idea he got into his head he wanted. Oh yeah, he wanted to stay outside, where it was cold and dark. At one point I had him on my lap on the floor in his coat in the playroom and he says he wants the light on but he does not want to get out of my lap. I tell him I will try magic. Abracadabr and I wave my hands, nothing happens. Oh well. Then I tried it while saying allioops. Just trying to distract him, but DH turns the light on. Gabe is facinated. He wants to try. He starts point his hands and saying alliopps and DH keeps turning the light on and off. Gabe is facinated, but later he got very frustrated as he keep pointing his finger at a light in another room saying "on" and nothing would happen. :(

He almost got bit today at daycare. One of the older boys was frustrated about something and lashed out. I think Gabe might have been trying to sit in his seat for lunch. Luckily the boys dad was there and intervened before anything happened. He appologized to me later but I told him not to worry about it. Toddlers do things like that. They have big feelings and it takes time to teach them how to deal with them. Am I a bad mom that I don't become more protective of my child? I have heard of other moms almost throwing another kid across the room to keep their child from getting hit or bite.

[kerrykate]

Renrel~ I'm glad Gabe didn't get bit. I think you did the right thing. You are being realistic about it, toddlers will be toddlers and getting angry at the little boy or his dad wouldn't solve anything.

Mittyrd~ Adorable pics! I can't believe the twins use to be tiny little preemies, they are thriving and so cute!

Lauren has been tough lately. I think my tired, crazy, pg hormones + a sassy toddler don't mix well. My patience have been low lately and I feel bad about it. She did say something the other day that was so funny. I told her she needs to drink her milk because it'll give her strong bones. And she says, "No it doesn't mom, bones are for dogs.":)
It's sunny out today and in the upper 40's so I think we'll try and get to the park and burn some energy.

[mittyrd]

Thanks for the compliments on the boys! I am a proud mama. They ended up in the ER Thursday night b/c of their colds Sam was having trouble breathing. It was a scary night. I stayed home with Jake and DH took the babies. Sam ended up having a couple of nebulizer treatments and then the doctor gave us a nebulizer to bring home and continue treatments. Matt just had a bad cold. They are doing much better now, thank G-D!!

Renrel: Jake got bit once at daycare by his best friend. Thankfully, it didn't break through the skin.

Jenyfer: 24 hours? I can stomach about 24 minutes! :eek:

Kerry: I used to be so tired while pg with the boys that it took every ounce of energy I could muster just to do the smallest thing with Jake. Lucky for me he is one who can entertain himself for hours.

Jake loves yellow school busses. The entire way to and from daycare I hear "yellow bus, where are you?" and then when he sees one he has the look of pure joy on his face. Don't you wish we could find such happiness in a yellow bus??:)

[Jenyfer9]

Kerry: yeah, I'm pretty thankful that I didn't have a 2 year old while I was preggo with #2.

Well, we had a first here last night... TJ slept in our bed almost the whole night! Soooo not what I want to start a habit of. HE SLEEPS PERPENDICULAR IN BED! So between dh, TJ and I we looked like the letter "H". :rolleyes:

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: Mia is very into school busses. She loves them and has for awhile. She has a little yellow school bus that she plays with all the time because of the obsession.
Cute pics of the boys- I can't believe how grown up they look!

kerrykate: I definately don't have the patience with Mia that I normally do. It has gotten better now that I'm out of the 1st trimester, but there are still moments.

Renrel: My nephew used to have the same magic powers to open the remote entry doors on my FIL's minivan.

Mia's sick again. I've finally been healthy for over a month and am not looking foward to the possiblity of getting her cold/fever. She's in a pretty good mood considering, but just laying around quite a bit. I had to cancel my dentist appt today since I didn't want to take her to the sitter with a fever. I took her to my office so I could have my follow-up ultrasound (I wasn't missing that). She loves a few of the girls I work with, so they entertained her for an hour. When I got back to pick her up, her little cheeks were all flushed from her fever.

[Jenyfer9]

Erinn: how did your follow-up u/s go?

[jay&erinn]

Jenyfer: I wish I knew. I won't find anything out until next Tuesday at my follow up appt. I didn't even know the first one was abnormal until I went in for my routine appt 10 days after the ultrasound:rolleyes: Thanks for asking though. I'll keep you posted.

[AlisonCO]

Hi. I have been reading, but everytime I try to post, Cailtin gets cranky or wakes up. She is teething - ughh - I briefly forgot how bad the first couple of teeth are. Aidan must be going thru a growth spurt because his sleep is all over the place and he is eating and drinking like crazy. On Sunday he had 2 big pancakes, 1 scrambled egg, huge bowl of fruit and not 30 minutes later had cheese. Late last week he was sleeping 7:30-7 - now he hasn't slept until 7 in years:). DH came up and said that he was seriously worried that something was wrong - Aidan sleeping until 6:30 is late! Then the past 2 days he has been up before 6 and so tired by mid-morning.

Otherwise we are doing well. Today was 65 and we were outside all morning - A played in the sandbox and was so happy! Sunday afternoon DH and A watched the Crocodile Hunter for a bit and A loved how Steve Irwin talks (he is Australian) - he kept asking DH to talk like Steve. Then they were playing with playdoh while I cooked and he wanted DH to make crocs and Steve. Dh was really trying but apparently not hard enough because A looked at him and said "Daddy - that is not a good crocodile."

Sorry - no SO's because I need to shower. Hope that you all are doing well.

[Renrel]

Quick post not SO

DH just called and has an unexpected interview this afternoon, he was leaving right after he called, for a job in our area. Any good postive winning thoughs directed his way would be most appreciated. Thanks

Off now for my lunch visit with Gabe!

[kerrykate]

Good Luck to Renrel's DH, hope the interview goes well:)

MIL usually watches L today while I work but she and FIL are in FL so Dh took the day off to spend with his girl. I'm getting ready to meet them for lunch. It'll be interesting to see what dh dressed her in, she tends to look like a homeless child when dh gets her ready;) Nothing else very exciting going on...

Erinn~ That stinks you have to wait a week for the results. Hopefully the kidney issue looks better.

[AlisonCO]

Good Luck Renrel's DH!!!!

kerrykate - I love the things that DH puts on the kids. It is harder with a girl, but with a boy, geez, just put some jeans and t-shirt on! He always finds the 2 things in Aidan's closet that don't really go. And he usally forgets to wipe their faces.

Yesterday and today Aidan is doing the typical toddler behavior that I always laughed at when I saw other kids do it: he is wearing his snow boots ALL DAY eventhough it is 60 degrees and sunny. You gotta pick your battles, right?:)

[Renrel]

Thanks for the good wishes!

Allison - I was evsdropping on some parents in daycare talking about a similiar battle when there daughter wanted to wear her new snow shoes to bed!

[Jenyfer9]

OMG, it is SO true that dh hasn't the faintest idea of what matches when it comes to dressing our boys. How hard is it? Pants, shirt. Instead, we end up with all kinds of funky combinations, and occasionally he'll put TJ's clothes on Will and wonder why they don't fit right. :rolleyes:

[kerrykate]

That's so funny at least I'm not alone when it comes to dh dressing L. And I was right when I walked into the restaurant and saw her I started cracking up laughing. She was dressed in purple pants that have flowers all over them, a yellow SLEEVELESS(it's in the upper 30's today) shirt trimmed in green that's INSIDEOUT and a pink zip up sweat shirt.: He said she completely dressed herself today. Oh, and her hair hadn't been brushed, I asked him why he didn't brush it and he said he got the brush out but she said she didn't want her hair brushed so he didn't do it:rolleyes: I really wasn't kidding when I said she looks homeless when he gets her ready. If she's still dressed like this when I get home I'll post a pic. Why are men so clueless?

[Jenyfer9]

Yeah, Tom thinks that t-shirts are ok in every kind of weather. Summer, winter, snow, 40 below...

[AlisonCO]

Funny about the DH's. The thing is, my husband dresses himself and grooms himself well. He buys and wears nice clothes, regularily gets a haircut etc - why is it so hard for him to dress a 2 year old boy? And wipe his face with a washcloth before they go out?

kerrykate - I so hope that you can take a picture - it sounds like quite an outfit!

[Renrel]

:( Just spoke to DH and he is fairly certain it is a no go. He once again does not have the marketing experience or the domain knowledge they are looking for. This is very frustrating. He can't get hired into a marketing position without experience unless he can show he has a good grasp of the domain the company in in. His domain knowledge is in a dead end field (analog technology. chip design) which can not be easily leveraged into another field so getting a job there will make only slightly more marketable in a marketing positon than he is now and he really does not want to work in that field anymore. He and the person he interviewed agreed that the field he has experience in is a dead end.

DH thought that by being smart and working hard in the field he was in he would get ahead and succeed. No one told him about leveraging your knowledge and playing politics and that being good at what you do is only 1 of the 10 or or things necessary to suceed in the work place. If he was a natural smoozer it may not have mattered but he is not. He is not a introverted, antisocial geek but any means but his is not an outgoing popularity contest winner by any means either. Sigh. Sorry for the vent. I could not get access to my LJ journal and needed to get that out.

He and Gabe are off to the mall now for guy night while I work late. When I called him Gabe was standing outside searching the sky trying to find the moon. He is loves to know where the moon is and what the day's weather is. He is also starting to get a hang of the days of the week. I will be so happy when he figures out yesterday v.s tomorrow though and when they refer to actual days rather than past and present. It can be so confusing talking to him about anything time/date related.

[mittyrd]

occasionally he'll put TJ's clothes on Will and wonder why they don't fit right

Sometimes, DH puts the babies' diapers on Jake and wonder why they are a little small :confused:

Renrel: Sorry about DH & the job

[Renrel]

DH is actually not bad at dressing Gabe and more likely to brush his hair than I am. If Gabe does not match it is because he chose his clothes himself and that is OK by me. Most of his stuff will coordiate reasonably well anyway. Mostly differnet shades of Green and blue with a bit of red here and there. Though DH is less likely to realize something is a set, so set tend to get broken up. I think it is harder with girls. All those pretty flower prints and pinks and oranges and lavenders to coordinate.

Tomorrow DH plans to take Gabe to an event at Home Depo. Every first Saturday of the month they have a kids project event. This Saturday they are building a race car. Not sure what that means but DH is dying to have Gabe watch him use tools and to get him intrested in learning about them. Since we are in an apartment he does not have a work bench or any major tool and not that much fix it up work do to in the house. The event is more for older kids but DH asked and was told that some toddlers do come, but their parents need to stay with them. Yeah, we kinda figured that. I hope that there is something that Gabe can actually do, even if it is just putting a screw into a hole or spreading some glue. And I get the house to myself for a couple of hours while they are away. YEAH. That only happens about once every 3 months or so. This month I have a holiday Gabe does not and I am so hoping DH has work that day so I can have the house to myself. If not maybe we will have a date day and see a matinee or something.

[jay&erinn]

Renrel: Sorry to hear about DH's job interview. That must be so frustrating for him and you.
Mia LOVES watching DH work with tools. If something needs to be put together (with nuts and bolts or a screw driver), DH will let her help.

Dressing: DH does fairly well. I hang all of Mia's outfits together, and most of her other stuff (sweaters, jeans, pants) can be mixed and matched. I do occasionally pick her up from the sitter's and we have a good laugh. I think the best was a pair of capri's and a button down cropped shirt that tied in the front and showed off her cute little belly (something she WILL NOT do in a few years). It was a cute outfit WITHOUT a onsie under neath:rolleyes:

I got my ultrasound results today (a little illegally). It pays to work in a doc office that has a computer system that's tied into the hospital's radiology department. The one kidney that was dilated the last time got slightly bigger and the other is now slightly enlarged. I have the actually sizes in the reports, but they mean nothing to me without norms. The two vessel cord is still there (didn't really expect that to change). That's all I know. We'll see what it means at my next appt. My doc took copies to show his cousin. They're having dinner tonight and he's an OB/GYN that works out of a major women's hospital. Guess I have to get info somehow.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - Darn it about the job - I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for your DH. Enjoy your alone time tomorrow. I am sure that Gabe will have a blast at Home Depot with dad - they may come home grunting like that Tool Time show:)

erinn - When is your next appt? Thinking positive thoughts for Mia's brother or sister:) How are you feeling these days?

kerrykate - How are you feeling? So far is this pregnancy the same or different than with Lauren?

We are on Day 3 of Aidan's operation "must wear snow boots all day" :) I even tried to hide them last night but he searched and found them. Also he and Caitlin took their first bath together tonight - SO cute! Aidan loved it - but, Caitlin was not as amused.

Have a Great Weekend!

[Renrel]

The home depo thing went well. Gabe apparently spent more time staring at the other kids around the table than paying attention to his project but he had fun. The project was glueing and pasting the top and bottom of a small car together and then hammering the wheels onto the axles and putting stickers on to decorate. Gabe hammered a bit and put on the stickers. Then he got to take home his work apron and the car. And it cost nothing. I just wish it took longer, they were out of the house maybe 1.5 hours in all, and that included time they spent shopping for a stepping stool and signing up for a credit card since it came with a $30 gift or your choice 0 anything in the store. DH got the stepping stoop. I may go in tomorrow, sign up myself and get supplies to build a storage unit for the playroom.

Gabe counted to 30 last night fior the first time and today, much to my surprise, realized that 40 came next, though he did not want to do 31-39.

Gabe pooped the bath last night and thanks to a bubble bath we have no idea how long he was sitting in there with it, YUCK!. We are hoping it happened after we rinsed his hair from the shampoo he finally let us do after over a week.

Gabe's reward for cooperating with the shampoo was a tattoo that he decided he wanted on his cheek. A really big aligator one. People are going to be giving us the stranges looks for the next couple of days.

[jay&erinn]

Just a quick update.
It's been a long week and it's only Tuesday:rolleyes: . DH went out of town yetsurday- he'll be back tomorrow night- but it's exhausting not having him around. I'm spoiled by not having to take Mia to the sitter's in the morning (DH works afternoon shift the days I work so he takes her to the sitter after lunch). I had to get up 45 minutes earlier to take her yesturday and listen to her complain while I tried to take a shower (she's definately not a morning person) and get her ready (she really wasn't happy about having to get dressed first thing in the morning). MIL called yesturday to say that DH's grandmother is in really bad shape. DH is calling because he doesn't know whether to come home or not. I took Mia to see her this morning at the nursing home and there's a lot of family in town we haven't seen in a long time (some have never met Mia). I dropped her at the sitter and went to my appt. at 11:00. They said not to worry too much. I'll have another ultrasound at 30 weeks to check growth (because of the 2 vessel cord) and the kidneys to make sure they're not getting any bigger. They also think that I'm hypoglycemic and that's why I black out and get horrible heart palpitations throughout pregnancy. I've cut out a lot of carbs and almost all sugar and things have improved dramatically. It would have been nice to know last time around- then I could have continued to drive and have a life while pregnant. Unfortunately eggs and meat are not some of my favorite foods- oh well- if it keeps me feeling good, I'll just have to deal. After nap, it's back to the nursing home until bed time. Not the way I planned on spending the next few days, but I think it makes DH feel better that we're there since he can't be.

Well, I'm off to pack Mia's diaper bag so she doesn't get too antsy tonight.

[AlisonCO]

Renrel - After I read your post about HD, I told my DH about it. He called ours and they only do kids classes for kids 5+. I guess it varies from store to store, but DH was bummed. That is cute about the tattoo on his cheek - hope that you took a picture of it!

erinn - I am glad that your OB doesn't seem too worried - did they give you any specific info about the kidney's and what it could mean? Meat and eggs were not appealing to me, but beans and cheese were a protein staple of mine last pregnancy.

A couple new pictures:

Aidan aka Bob the Builder:

http://www.allsam.com/MAR2006/images/030306_29.jpg

Um, why is she in the bath with me? Do I have to share everything?

http://www.allsam.com/MAR2006/images/030306_51.jpg


So Bob, I mean Aidan is back to getting up at the crack of f-ing dawn. Ugh, I am so not amused since Caitlin is getting up around 3 to eat and then Aidan is up (and cranky) at 5:30am. Otherwise he is in a pretty good mood for the rest of the day.

Hope that you all are doing well!

[kerrykate]

Alison~ Love the pics, Lauren is so into Bob the Builder right now!

Erinn~ Glad your OB said not to worry too much, although I know how impossible that will be.

I had some spotting on Monday so I called my OB and they took blood on Tuesday and I got my results yesterday my betas are good. I'm going for an ultrasound today in a few hours.

Lauren is so into this stinkin life jacket she found in her closet, it's all she wants to wear(literally). She had her pj's on yesterday morning and went upstairs and said she was going to get dressed and she comes back down stairs a few minutes later wearing only the life jacket. She threw a fit when she had to actually get dressed so we could run errands.
http://images.snapfish.com/3464%3B6245%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E979%3E932%3EWS NRCG%3D323357%3A745445nu0mrj

Oh, and remember last Friday when dh dressed her and she looked homeless? This is what I came home to, she had just woken up from her nap and had the same summer shirt on inside out, hair still not brushed, she had taken her pants off, and she had put her little backpack on... excuse the messy house:rolleyes:
She looks like a deer in headlights:
http://images.snapfish.com/3464%3B6245%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E979%3E932%3EWS NRCG%3D323357%3A736945nu0mrj

[mittyrd]

Alison: Cute pictures!

Kerry: Hope all is ok. (I had spotting too with pg #2 - then had to have an u/s and that's when they found out there were 2!!):eek:

Erinn: Sorry about DH's grandmother.

We've been having a run of sickness through the house. Last week, Jake threw up all night Thursday night. It was disgusting (and messy since he wouldn't puke in a bucket - just the floor). The week before Matt & Sam had colds and ended up in the ER needing breathing treatments. The joy of motherhood... Thankfully, everyone feels great right now (knocking on wood). I am so excited for the nice weather this weekend so we can actually go outside and have some fresh air!

[kerrykate]

I just back from my ultrasound and unfortunatly things aren't looking very good for me. There was a sac and the tech said there was something in it but there was no heartbeat and it only measured at 5 weeks and I am 7 weeks today. She also said she saw some bleeding near the sac. She kept asking me if my dates could be off but I know when I ovulated and when my LMP was. It just seems so strange since my betas were good. Anyway they sent me for more bloodwork and I have another ultrasound next Thursday. She said don't give up hope a lot can change in a week and there could be a heartbeat at the next ultrasound. They gave me a shot of rhogam and told me my bloodwork will be back tomorrow afternoon. This really sucks!

[Jenyfer9]

I'm sorry to hear your not-so-positive news, Kerry. I'll be thinking of you!

[AlisonCO]

Oh Kerrykate, that does suck! I will be thinking very positive thoughts for you. Please keep us updated. Hugs to you!

mittyrd - Oh man, you all had a rough spell. I am so glad that everyone is well now.

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: {{{HUGS}}} Nothing like absolute torture waiting for the next week to pass. Hopefully your betas are still climbing. You're in my thoughts. If you need to vent feel free to PM me.

[mittyrd]

Kerry: I'll be thinking of you!!

[Renrel]

Kerrykate - I will be thinking positive thoughts for you. Waiting and not knowing is so dang rough. (Love the photos by the way. So cute that she wants to wear just the jacket. Hopefully she will feel the same about next time you are on a boat.)

Mittyrd - Hopefully with the change in weather everyone will be outside more and the illnesses will stop. I admire how you manage everything, a job, a husband, a toddlers and twin babies. You are my wonderwoman!

Alyson - I looked on the web page and they said it is for 5 and over but DH told me Gabe was not the only toddler there. Maybe next month, or the next time the project is particularly easy you DH might just show up and see if they let him participate. The worse that happens is he gets to take his son to the hardware store, which is not a bad outing in and of himself. And the pictures are precous. We have one of Gabe with his kiddy tool belt from about a year ago which I really like even though it is a poor quality photo.

Errin - So sorry about DH's grandma It is alway hard watching the older generation make their leave. Glad they were able to give you a reason this time for the black outs. Seems they could have figured that out last time just as easily. Grrrr. Glad they don't think you have much to worry about, sometimes I wish we did not have so many tests. If we did not know we would not worry, and whats the point in worrying if there is nothing you can do about it anyway.

Not much to report over here. We had training at work yesterday and it was very very dense subject matter. I also did not get to drop Gabe off in the morning or visit at lunch and did not come home till 8:30 so I missed my little boy. It was guys night though and the boys had fun at the mall eatting burger king, going on the .25 rides and playing air hockey and skitball. I hear Gabe had an audience cheering him on for the air hockey. He really fought going to sleep though when I came home. This morning though he was in a great mood. I was so proud of him at daycare. He found a toy in the car, one of those plastic echoing microphones and brought it in with him. He recited the alphabet into it and his friend all gather around facinated. The part that made me proud though was that when I suggested he share his toy he was totally willing. And he did not even get mad when the first friend would not recite the alphabet as he told her to. Though she did repeat after me when I said the letters for her. He let three different friends play with his toy while I was there. Yeah for the socialization of daycare!

The only firm plan for this weekend is a pampered chef party Sunday for brunch. We may take Gabe to see the Curoius George movie at somepoint depending on his mood and what other errands need to get done.

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: How are you? Do you know anything yet? Still thinking of you.

No time for SO's.
I missed work Friday for DH's grandma's funeral, so I'm heading in early today and know I have patients scheduled through 6:30 tonight. I'll check back in tomorrow.

[AlisonCO]

Good Morning! Our big news this weekend is that Aidan is now sleeping in a big bed!!! Man, did I have reservations about doing it because it would most likely be ME who deals with not going to bed, getting up in the middle of the night etc because A really prefers me at night. But because of the recent early mornings, DH thought that it might be a good time to try. We started Friday and that night he was up just once, Saturday he slept until 6:15 and wasn't up at all that night and then Sunday night he didn't get up and is still sleeping right now at 6! Naps are a different story - only about 45 each day. He looks so little in the twin bed, but it is a comfy and I think he likes the extra room. I am bidding on ebay right now for a Thomas sheet and a Bob the Builder sheet - thought it would be fun for him to pick out which one he wants every week.

kerrykate - Thinking about ya!

Caitlin's up and hungry so I will be back later - have a great day!

[kerrykate]

Thanks again for the well wishes ladies.
Nothing has changed. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday afternoon to see if anything has changed which I don't think it has. If this is going to end the way that I think it is I wish I would just start bleeding so I don't have to have a D&C. I don't have any pg symptoms anymore, no nausea, no sore bb's, I'm not tired. It's frustrating, I wish my body would recognize this. Dh has been great, he brought me a dozen white roses on Friday and we went out for a nice dinner last night. He keeps telling me to stay positive but when you're supposed to be 7 weeks pg and the ultrasound only shows you being 5 weeks pg and no heartbeat I don't think there's much to be positive about. Two weeks is a big difference when you're not very far along.

Lauren learned how to unbuckle the top latch of her carseat. The first time she did it I was driving on a side street thank goodness and she said, "Mommy look what I did":eek: I think I had a minor heart attack. She was very proud of herself. She knows now that she has to ask before she undoes it and has been very good about it.

Alison~ Congrats on the big boy bed, that's wonderful he had such an easy transition.

Erinn~ Sorry to hear about you dh's grandma passing.

Renrel~ How was the pampered chef party? I love their quick stir pitcher.

Mittyrd~ I hope everyone is feeling better!

[Renrel]

Errin - So sorry about grandma. Please give my sympathy to you DH and his family.

Kerry - I know how hard it can be to just wait for more info. I am keeping you in my thoughts.

Alision - Congrats on the big boy bed. I am not looking forward to that transition. Gabe is now climbing in and out of the crib on his own, but only when the side is down and he only climbs out when we are there to spot him. I don't know how we will keep him in a bed once we have to make that change, though I guess he does stay in his cot at daycare. Funny thing is when we visited IKEA a few months ago Gabe had no interest in the beds, he wanted to play in the cribs. I don't think he is very anxous to grow up.

Not much to report here. It was a quiet weekend. The pampered chef party was OK. The host keeps a kosher home so the consultant was limited in the equiptment she could bring into the home, only things which were new or had not touched unkosher food. The host had a few things she let the consultant use as well. And the poor consultant was also dealing with a crowd that had several frugal men and woman in it who have learned that $30 gagets usually take up dust while you continue to use you old basic stuff. But there were a few items that looked like they might be fun. I took the catalogue home and DH and I will think about what might be worth the money.

I have noticed that Gabe is getting smarter about somethings. I will try and distract him from an argument about somethign he has to do, like wash his hair, with a question giving him some power, such as should mommy rinse yoir hair or daddy. Gabe will seem to get distracted and choose who he wants and just when I think we have him, he will realize what has happened and go back to yelling he does not want his hair washed. It if kinda of funny watching him back track but it means life with a toddler is getting harder.

[mittyrd]

Erinn: My condolences to you & DH

Kerry: Still thinking about you.

Alison: Congrats to Aidan! Jake had a really easy transition too to the bed which totally surprised us. It took him awhile before he realized that he could get out whenever he wanted and come into our room. Now he's back to calling for me before he gets out of bed.

Jake has decided that he wants to sleep with his brothers. He keeps bringing in all his night time “stuff” and lying down between their cribs. When Sam is crying (Matt usually doesn’t cry), Jake gets up and rubs his back or legs through the slats in the crib. It’s so sweet. He’ll also give him his blankies but then takes them right back. The funny thing is that Sam is his quietest when Jake is comforting him.

[Renrel]

Mittyrd - That is soooo sweet about Jake wanting to sleep with his brothers and helping Sam get back to sleep. Lucky you to have such a little helper around. Makes me want to TTC again, which is an itch that his getting stronger and stronger these days. I hope DH finds work soon.

[Renrel]

The last couple of days Gabe has been such a dang 2 yr old! Lots of stubborness and tears over not getting his way. And the sudden changes from happy to angry and back again. He screamed in the bath for 5-10 minutes last night because he wanted me and not daddy to give him the bath. He would not get out of the bath either. DH finally stepped out of the bathroom to get his ear plugs. Finally Gabe gave up and started to play with daddy. This bit with it always being mommy's turn is soooo old.

I was proud of Gabe's ability to delay gratification a bit yesterday though. I let him take two dunken donut munchkins from daycare at the end of the day. He decided one would be a car snack and the other was for when he got home. The second one did not make it all the way home, but half of it did. I offered to hold it for him to remove temptation but he wanted to hold the cup himself. Then of course when we got home there was a present from my parents for the Jewish Holiday of Purim which included a jelly lollypop so Gabe had another sugar load for dessert after the munchin treat. I need to keep a lid on the sugar jar for the rest of the week.

eta - I know 5-10 minutes is nothing compared to some toddlers but this was all out screaming like you would have sworn we were holding him down against his will to perform some alwful medical procedure, when in fact he was just sitting in a nice warm bath with access to about 50 bath toys and the actually washing part took maybe a minute of that screaming time and after that he was free to come out if he wanted to. But that was not what he wanted. What he wanted was Mommy to sit and play and watch and be HIS. I feel sooo bad for DH when Gabe gives him this attitude. Makes me feel like I need to give him a little girl who will be all about daddy and make me miserable.

[Jenyfer9]

No time to post, but I just wanted to say that we are SOOOOOOOO into being 2 years old lately. :rolleyes:

[AlisonCO]

Hi! Any advice or info you all can give me about these two things would be great:

1. When DH or I ask Aidan to do something and he doesn't, we have been physically taking over and "helping" him do it. Then we tell him that he needs to listen to mommy and daddy when we ask him to do something. Dh thinks that maybe we should try the counting thing ("I am going to count to 3 and if you do not____, you will be ____). The problem is that we do not know what to use as "punishment" for not doing it. Right now the conversation goes like this:

me - Aidan please pick up ___
A - looks at me
me - Aidan please pick up the ___
A - looks at me and turns away and starts doing something else
me - Aidan (in stern voice) look at mommy! Please pick up__
A - again refuses
me - physically take him to the object, take his hand and pick it up


2. Since the move to the big bed, we have had 2 days in a row of no nap. He is in pretty good spirits considering, but he is tired! He went from sleeping 12 hours a day to 10. Have any of you experienced this? Is this just part of the transition? If it continues, I have thought about setting a timer and having quiet time in his room so that hopefully he learns that he has to stay in his room so he might as well sleep.

Thanks in advance - hope that you all are doing well!

[Jenyfer9]

Alison: I'd appreciate hearing what others have to say about "punishment". TJ is so dang stubborn (and testy!) that it's really starting to make me crazy.

About the nap thing: for the past couple days, TJ has refused a nap (maybe it's something in the air?). We made the transition to his "big boy bed" about a year ago, so I can't remember if he was napless or not.

But BOTH my kids are crank-pots the past couple days because they're "forgetting" about naps. Talk about no fun... try dealing with a 10.5 month old who's waking up at 5:30am and only taking 40 minutes worth of naps all day, and a almost 2.5 year old who still really needs a nap, but since his brother wasn't sleeping, he didn't want to sleep either. Ugh. I'm about ready to pull my hair out.

Hopefully today will be better...

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: Thinking about you today. Good luck.

Alison: Usually physically helping Mia is enough punishment. She HATES being made to do something she's refusing (like brushing her teeth or washing her hands). Luckily she's still small enough that I can physically make her. When it comes to picking up toys and such- she usually gets asked 2 times. Then I make her look at me and tell her if she doesn't listen she'll have to sit in time out. At that point I'll take her to the toy or whatever and see if that helps. If not, she goes to time out (usually yelling, "I wisten mommy, I wisten.":rolleyes: After her 2 minutes I go talk to her and she has to go pick up or do whatever she was asked to do before. Most of the time this works. She usually decides that time out isn't worth being that stubborn for, but that was after she sat there a couple times.
Congrats on the great nighttime sleeping. I can't imagine Mia not napping though. We'll be making that transition in the next few weeks since Mia's new room is now painted. It sounds like a great idea with the timer especially since it worked so well at meal time. My cousin had some initial problems when she moved her daughter to a bed. After a few rough weeks, she went back to napping.

mittyrd: LOVE the fact that Jake comforts your little ones. How sweet.

[Jenyfer9]

Erinn: what is your "time out spot"? I'm thinking that we're going to have to implement this very soon (ie, we should have done it already), but I'm not sure where I can put this kid in time out.

[mittyrd]

Alison: We tried the counting to 3 but then Jake starts counting along with me :rolleyes: So it's not effective. We physically bring him to do what we want also. If it's movie or tv time, we shut off the tv until he does what we wants and he does it right away. Mostly though he responds to verbal praise, we go "hooray Jake", etc. as he is doing whatever and then he does more or doesn't put up a fight b/c he likes the hoorays.

Nap: We had a problem too when we went to the bed but it was short-lived. In fact, he napped in the crib a few times (but slept in his bed at night) until he finally gave it up completely.

Jake is so sweet with the boys. I can't believe how much energy I wasted before they came home from the hospital worrying about how he would react to them. DH & I were wondering the other day if Jake thought everyone had 2 babies when their momma was pg. THen yesterday Jake was sticking his belly out and I asked him if he had a baby in there. He said yes. I asked his name. He said "Sam" and then paused and said "And Matt". :D

[AlisonCO]

We tried the counting to 3 but then Jake starts counting along with me So it's not effective

:) mittyrd - DH said that he tried it last night while I was gone and Aidan did the same thing - he thought it was a great game and continued to count. DH said he had a hard time not smiling. So cute about Jake saying that Sam and Matt were in his belly:)

jenyfer - I wonder if the kids will start having periods when they don't nap as they approach the time (~3) when they stop napping altogether. Now Will on the other hand has no excuse!

erinn - Thanks! I think that we will continue with making Aidan do what we ask and see if that results in him starting to do it more quickly, without us having to ask 3 times.

Again - thank you all! I feel so lost with all of this stuff. I SO SO SO want Aidan to be a "good" kid who has clear boundaries and rules and a kid who respects us as his parents. I know that at some point we will need to have a real punishment whether that be time outs or taking away a treasured toy - I just don't know when those are developmentally appropriate or when they will be most effective.

In better news, he is napping right now and has been for 45 minutes! Yeah - hopefully that continues as I know he still needs a nap.

Have a great day!

eta - kerrykate - thinking about you today and sending positive thoughts to you!

[jay&erinn]

Jenyfer: Our time out spot is in our family room in front of the coat closet door on the first floor, and in the hallway on the second floor (the second floor one has only been needed twice so far) It's actually around a small corner so she can't see us and out of her playroom- where we normally are. Sometimes she actually asks to go there after it's threatened- I'm not sure why- but when she does, she still comes out acting like a totally different kid (happy and pleasant instead of whiny and argumentative).

Time out was tough at first, but it's really helped. It's amazing to me what a 2 minute break can do to change her attitude.

Alison: I can totally relate to wanting Mia to be a good kid. My Mom's a teacher and I hear all of her horror stories about how disrespectful kids are. It's amazing to me.

[kerrykate]

I had my ultrasound yesterday and unfortunatly nothing really changed. The sac grew a little bit and measured at 5 weeks 3 days(I should be 8 weeks) up from 5 weeks last week. But there was still just a small yolk and no fetal pole or heartbeat. The NP said she wants to wait and let things happen naturally and I have to get my betas drawn every Friday for the next 6 weeks or until they get to 0. Last week they were over 13,000 so hopefully this week they'll start to drop, I really want to get this over with and move on although I am thankful that I don't have to have a d&c. We hadn't told the IL's yet that I was pg so dh told MIL last week after my ultrasound what was going on. She and dh's 2 sisters have all had perfect pregnancy's never any spotting, miscarriage, no problems so they are all clueless about a miscarriage. So after my doctor appt yesterday dh and I went to MIL's to pick up Lauren and MIL asked how the ultrasound went. I told her what happened and of course she says all the "classic" wrong things to say, "So it was a false pregnancy, you weren't really pg, did you even have any symptoms? You can always try again next month.":rolleyes: I really do love my IL's but it just frustrates me how clueless MIL acted. I know she doesn't really understand a miscarriage but it wasn't what I wanted to deal with an hour after the ultrasound.

Sleeping~ L started climbing out of her crib at 22 months so we bought her a toddler bed. She HATED it(still does), everytime we'd put her in it she'd get out and get in our bed and stay put. After a week of this we gave up and 7 months later she's still in our bed for naps and all. I think she's going through a growth spurt right now because she's taking crazy long naps(sorry probably not what you want to hear). We are going to be moving in a few weeks and I'm going to buy her a nice twin bed, canopy bed, or daybed that hopefully she'll fall in love with and want to sleep in her own room. Dh & I want our bed back to ourselves.

[Renrel]

KerryKate - I am so sorry to hear that things have not changed for the positive. I we continue thinking positive and strenthening thoughts for you. I hope the worst of this will pass quickly and that you will be able to move on to a more positive experience very soon.

-

We have a very busy weekend. Yesterday I had off for a wierd state holiday. I just stayed home while DH took Gabe to daycare and went to work (some consulting stuff). I got some things done around the house and relaxed which was really nice. My life would be soooo much better if I could have one day a week like that. Just slowing getting all the house tasks done and having some alone me time.

Then we had a friend over for Shabbot dinner. It was alot of fun and Gabe was in rare form. The friends is single and has no kids and was really into playing with Gabe. She was down on the floor in his tent trying to crawl though the tunnel, ect. They were having such fun together that we did not press to get him to bed on time. So he was not asleep till close to 10:30. Then he woke up at 2am and I had to stay with him for an hour till he was down again. We both slept way late today.

Now I am packing up boxes of outgrown toys and closet to go into storage at my inlaws home. Then we are driving down to RI to store the stuff and having dinner at my BIL home. It will be another late night for Gabe.

Then tomorrow we are having a friends over for a make your own pizza dinner. They are likely to bring a bunch of outgrown toys from their child, so I am not sure my home will be any less cluttered by the end of the weekend, but at least the clutter may be age appropriate clutter.

One of Gabe's games last night was to tell my friend to lay down on the floor and go to sleep. After he finaly got her to do it right and covered her with a blanket he went to sit in his chair, like I sit in mine after he is in bed. I asked if he was going to tell her a lights out story (the make it up as I go story I tell him after I turn all the lights out). He got up, turned out the lights, got back in the chair and said "Once upon a time, a long long time ago there was a little giraffe who wanted someone to to play with" Then he looked at me because he had no idea where the story went from there. I was so impressed that he got as far as he did in making up a story. It was very very cute. My friend actually stayed in the room with us all the way through lights out story. I suggested she leave at that point because I could not see much fun for her in sitting in a dark from for 5-15 minutes listening to a toddler toss and turn.

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: I'm so sorry thing didn't go well at your ultrasound. I hope things go quickly from here. I often wonder how far along I was when the baby stopped developing with the second miscarriage.
Unfortunately you'll hear a lot of insensitive things from people. I hope you find some close friends or famiy that have been through it and can offer you the support you need. The miscarriage survivers group in family planning was really helpful to me. Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Renrel: Hopefully you'll have some time to recover after such a busy weekend.

It's busy around here too. My brother, his GF and my niece are in town for my niece's birthday. I had a housefull of people from about 1:30 on yesturday. We went and saw Dora live yesturday morning and the kids all loved it. It was actually one of the better shows I've seen (a lot of audience participation). I'll be spending today with my brother again and probably get suckered into making dinner for everyone tonight. DH has worked all weekend and was called out Friday night/Saturday morning. He only had 2 hours of sleep, so he was no help last night (who could blame him).
My birthday was yesturday- I'm now 31. Unfortunately I wasn't in the best mood (I'm blaming pregnancy hormones). Mia was really difficult yesturday morning while I was trying to get us both ready to leave to see Dora- then I'm frustrated with the lack of options I have to eat (I'm so sick of eggs and meat). I was looking forward to having 2 hours of quiet over nap, but my family decided to hang out here instead. DH had to work (he did send me some beautiful flowers), so he wasn't around and once he was, we had a houseful of people. My Mom got me a birthday cake- which I can't eat, so I was feeling some what ungreatful and then guilty for feeling that way. It was just a rough day overall.
Luckily I only have to work one day this week (monday), and then I'm taking Mia to the sitter tuesday and cleaning the house. DH is off after Wednesday, so I'm looking forward to some quiet time together. I think we both need it between the funeral last week and my family this week and all the work we've both been doing.
OK- enough venting. I'm off to try and enjoy my day.

[AlisonCO]

kerrykate - I am so very sorry - my thoughts are with you and your family!

erinn - Happy belated Birthday! Sorry it wasn't very relaxing - hopefully you will get some time away this week when your DH is off.

renrel - Sounds like you all had a fun weekend - I agree that I wish I had a day alone every other week to catch up on housework and maybe take up a hobby.

So Aidan and DH were playing a funny game today about what I would bring home from the store. DH would ask if I would bring home bread, dinosaur toes, milk, cheese, kitty cats etc and Aidan would laugh and say yes or no. He also loves to ask what different animals eat. Whenever he helps us do something DH likes to say "Aidan is a very useful engine" and Aidan says "No daddy, Thomas is an engine, Aidan is a boy":)

The big boy bed is going well and he has taken a nap for the last few days - phew!

Hope that you all have a great week.

[Renrel]

Errin- Happy Belated Birthday! Sorry it was not the greatest. Funny how friends often seem to have similiar birthdays. I have a good friends with a birthday the 16th and my sister's b-day is the 17th. And there are three b-days in DS daycare this week.

Allision - Funny how kids can be so literal. DH was listening to my BIL tell us about how a friend of his whom we know in passing (who has 4 kids, three of them triplets) is just about divorced. DH reacted by saying "Ouch!" Gabe looked up very concerned and confused wanting to know where and how DH hurt himself. By the way according to the husband they are getting divorced because his wife refused to ever go out and do anything after the triplets were born, even though they got a nanny and they triplets are now 7, and the husband earns enough money that they have options that many others would not have. He said he wants to have a life, to be able to go out with his wife. I have not heard her side, but knowing how tired I am with one heathly toddler I can guess why she does not want to go out. I can see both sides, and just hope the kids make it through OK.

We had fun this weekend but is was sooo tiring and we really messed way to much with Gabe's sleep. He did not go down till 10:30 on Friday and then on Saturday he only napped for an hours and in the evening we probably left my B/SIl's home around 10pm. GAbe was in jammies but it took him quite awhile to fall asleep and he woke up during the transfer. He also woke up in the wee hours both Friday and Saturday, messing up both our sleep schedules. Though he did sleep late both Saturday and Sunday, which helped. Than last night we were able to stay pretty much on target for bedtime, since our friends came over really early for dinner - 4pm - but Gabe had a hard time falling asleep. I sat with him a long time. He finally let me leave around 10 but he was still awake, quite, drozy, but awake.

Our friends were very impressed at what a happy kid Gabe is The only time he got really upset was when they told him in a firm tone he could not come near the stove while I was helping DH get the pizza in the oven. He always crys when he hears "that tone of voice" and usually he will say something like "Don't say that, or Don't say my name!" I alway have to reassure him that we only use the tone to let him know he is doing something dangerous and that we still love him. He also yelled out that DESSERT! everytime the timer went off for the pizza. He had a hard time waiting so long for dessert. We have been doing the buzzer thing, he sits at the dinner table for 15 minutes and then we will serve dessert, but that does not work when we have company, which was what was happening all weekend. And with pizza there was a big intermission between the first 2 and the 2nd 2 before we finally served dessert.

The friends brought some handme down videos and children's board games which should be fun. I think Gabe will really like the High Ho cherry game. It may take a while longer for him to be ready for the color bingo game.

[Renrel]

Gabe played his first board game yesterday. Hi Ho Cherry-O. It was interesting. It was fun and interesting to see what he needs to learn to really play a game. He did not understand the "object" of the game, which is to get ten cherries in your bucket. There are little cherries and trees that the cherrys go in (kind of like a chinese checker board) and little cups. You spin the arrow and either have to take a certain number of cherries off the tree into the bucket or take them out of the bucket and put them back on the tree. Gabe had not trouble taking turns but the arrow confused him. He at first did not seem to understand which side pointed. Then he wanted to move the arrow to the picture he wanted, though the picture he wanted often was one where you take apples out of the basket. We tried to encourage him to play "right" but did not push it on every turn. He was thrilled with the Game. And DH was thrilled because I said the prize for winning was a hug and he won 2-3 games. We ended up having to change the rules a bit though because with all the taking out of cherries the game was too long. We turned those pictures into spin a again or do nothing turns. Anyway, it is a great game once a child can count to 10.

We are continuing to have some sleep problems here. We did not get Gabe down to sleep till 10pm, and that is when I left his room, he was still not asleep. Then he woke up screaming "no no no" at around midnight. DH got up before me and tried to calm him but Gabe did not even acknowledge that DH was holding him. He just kept screaming no and flinging his arms. Then I took him and nursing calmed him down. Then he wanted to sleep in my arms. I put him in the crib when he started trying to roll over in my arms. He complained and I had to rub his back to get him to relax and stay down. Then I had to sleep in the floor next to the crib for awhile after that before I could finally leave. It is frustrating that as verbal as Gabe is he can not tell us what is waking him up at night. When he wakes he is too upset talk to us and in the morning it is hard to tell if he even understands what I am talking about when I ask him if he remembers waking up the night before. We did have to forcably wash his hair last night against his will last nigh, so maybe he had a flash back to that in his sleep. He has also had a tooth bud in back for months now that has not worked through. And of course his sleep schedule has been messed up for a few days as well. So many possiblities for why he his waking. Could even be a combo of all of them.

[jay&erinn]

kerrykate: Thinking of you and hoping you're doing OK.

Renrel: Mia LOVES to play board games. My mom found a Good Night Moon board game that is progressive. You play cooperatively at this age, and can make it more competitive as they get older. It's basically just a matching game, but Mia loves to play it. I think it's really helped her get the idea of taking turns and being a little patient. I also have a game from discovery toys that has a large plush die (no numbers, just block colors on each side). She rolls the die and then picks a card of the same color. Each card has a different activity on it. They can range from giving mommy a hug (my favorite), to draw a picture. If we don't have much time to play, I only put out a few cards. It takes about 20-30 minutes to do all of the activities if we go through the whole thing.
I bought her Dora dominos and a disney matching game for Easter and for a gift from the baby. I'm hoping she'll like both of those. We also already have candyland, but she just likes to move the people around (definately still too young for that and look at all the cards).

Well, I'm supposed to be cleaning my house today. I took Mia to the sitter's, but I just don't feel like it. I cleaned out her closet so it's easier to move her clothes to her new room, and have been doing laundry. I have to go pick Mia up in another hour, so I think I'll just be a bum and lay around. DH is going to try and get her new room finished (the rest of the painting and cleaning the carpet) in the next few days, and then it's transitioning to a regular bed. I'm not looking forward to her being able to get out of bed so easily- I think it may be a nightmare for us for a few weeks until she gets used to it.

[Jenyfer9]

Kerrykate: thinking of you...

Erinn: when are you due? I keep forgetting.

[kerrykate]

Thanks for all the well wishes ladies! I'm doing pretty good although the sagga continues. I had my levels taken Friday and found out yesterday that they went up again from 13000 to 19000:rolleyes: The nurse said it can take a while for your body to catch on that the sac is basically empty, um great. If they don't start dropping in the next couple weeks I may insist on a d&c. We're ready to move on...

We've been so busy, we listed the our house with a realtor on Friday and we had a showing on Sunday so I spent all day Saturday cleaning and had to paint the basement floor, walls, and the stairs going down to the basement. If I never see paint again it'll be too soon. Dh and his dad put a privacy fence up in the backyard over the weekend so we were both spent. It paid off though, the 1st and only people that came to see the house on Sunday put an offer in yesterday and we countered back and forth a couple times and finally agreed on a price:) It is such a HUGE weight lifted off our shoulders, but now dh has to get the other house finished in 30 days and it's pretty close but the pressure is on.

[Renrel]

Kerrykate - I am so sorry that this is dragging on for you. Hopefully the sales of the house will keep you distracted.

[jay&erinn]

Jenyfer: I'm due June 21st. Three months to go.

kerrykate: That stinks that it's taking so long. If you insisted on a D&C, I would think your doc's office would cooperate.
Congrats on the house. It's amazing what DHs can accomplish when they have to. Is Lauren excited about moving?

Question: Do any of your kids have imaginary friends? Last week Mia started talking about Baby Dragon. He doesn't appear everywhere, but every few days, she starts talking about him. When he's around he has to get a plate of food at meals, and have his turn on the potty. It's pretty funny, but also creating more work for me:rolleyes:
She's also much more into pretend play- taking care of her babies, making pretend food, etc.

[Renrel]

Errin - We had a few days when Gabe insisted imaginary Pooh characters had to climb into his crib before he did, but that is all I can think of at the moment. He does sometimes insisted that his lovey or other doll get a plate to eat. He also will bring a pail into the bathroom for his dolls to use as a potty while he sits on his (does not bother him at all that the doll is sitting inside "this potty") but that is about it for that kind of play. But, as I am sure you know, imaginary friends are very common and normal, if sometimes annoying to have around.

Any of you have a leappad or something similiar? I am thinking about getting one for Gabe and would love to hear some recommendations or reviews before spending over $30 on another toy. I am hoping it would be a good distraction for our ride down to NY/NJ for Passover and again when my sister gives birth at the end of May.

[AlisonCO]

kerrykate - Congrats on the house sale - that is great that it happened so fast! I am sorry to hear that your levels haven't come down!

erinn - Wow, 3 more months! Are you feeling better now that you adjusted your diet? That is so cute about Mia's "friend"!

renrel - Did you see a tooth bud in Gabe's mouth? I swore that A had all of his teeth, but he has been jamming his fingers into the back of his mouth lately - hmm.

imaginary friends - no, but A does love to play pretend now and has really gotten into telling stories with his trains or stuffed animals.

leappad - We have a leappad and A likes it once in awhile - we have a book about animals and one about the 3 bears, but I think that A has gotten bored with those. I do think that it would be a good car "toy" but A still needs help pushing the right button to make the page correlate with the sound. Does Gabe like to draw? Maybe a Magna Doodle or Etch a Sketch?

[Renrel]

Allison - I have seen and felt a bud way in the back. It has been there for months now and I don't know when it will break through. So I aways wonder when he his being cranky if it is bother him. He does not tend to react very much to teething in general but there have been a few teeth that gave him a little trouble, particular at night when he had nothing to distract him. He also has his hands in his mouth all the time which was not characterstic of him unti around the time he turned 2.

Gabe likes to draw but it is not a passion for him and the magnadoddle will occupy him for a little while but not for very long stretchs. I don't think we have tried an etch a schetch, that might be worth a try. I was hoping the leappad might be a bit more engrossing for him. And he is pretty good about learning how to make things work. He figured out just from watching my DH that if the computer does something hokey he should push the escape button. I don't even know to do that. He also knows how to turn on the CD player and push the buttons to find the cd he wants. I would like to get the pad before we travel so he has time to figure it out at home without the added issues of being in the backseat of a car strapped into a car seat.

[kerrykate]

Erinn~ I hope you had a nice birthday and got in some R&R. Lauren doesn't have any imaginary friends but her 2 year old cousin does. SIL was tellling me that she talks to this "friend" all the time and she got into an arguement with the friend the other day at the dinner table.
Lauren is definitly into pretend play especially with her baby dolls. She puts her baby on the potty, rock the dolls in her rocking chair, and she'll announce that everyone has to be quite because her baby doll is taking a nap.

A couple quick pics I don't know why they're coming up blurry I may need to re-upload them.

http://images.snapfish.com/346635949%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3233%3E4%3B6%3E654%3E2324 4%3B6745944ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/346635949%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E979%3E932%3EWSNR CG%3D32335%3A768%3B637nu0mrj

[Renrel]

This morning Gabe wanted me to do some lap bouncing song with him that he teachers do in school. I told him I did not know how it went. He got down on the floor with his legs out and made me sit on his lap (I supported my weight on my knees, luckily he did not notice or complain) and he sang the song to me so that I could learn it and do it for him. Sooooo cute.

[AlisonCO]

renrel - That is so cute that Gabe wanted to teach you the song - hope it wasn't a long lesson or your knees probably got sore:) I still don't know about the teeth - are the "2 year molars" the last baby teeth? I am sure that Aidan has all 4 of those. I was thinking that maybe you could check out craigslist for a slightly used Leappad.

kerrykate - Lauren has such beautiful hair - such cute pictures!

So Aidan was SO 2 years old yesterday - man was I glad when he went to bed:D He was just testing us every step of the way. So Caitlin got a booster seat over the weekend and has been sitting in it at dinner - well we got the same one as A and I think that we should have gotten a different one because he wants both of them to be his. Then we were cleaning up his room and he would not pick up one thing. Finally in the bath he kept throwing toys out and then he hit my hand - sheesh!

[Renrel]

Warning vent and complaining ahead, feel free to skip post if you can't handle some adult whining and self pity ect.

My mom called last night and my Grandmother has been in the hospital for about a week with congestive heart failure. It was not looking good for awhile but she is doing better and they expect to release her soon. She is a real fighter but a 92 year old body can only take so many assaults, and I think she is just getting tired. My mom says she tends to sleep alot. If you don't engage her in conversation or a game of some sort she will just closer her eyes and tune everything out.


DH was going over our taxes last night and it is really depression. The smal profit from the sales of his home in Texas is pretty much all taken up in the tax on the sale. That pretty much eats up all of the money he is making on this short term consulting gig. And, since he did not work at all last year we can not take the $5000 child care deduction, even though we paid about $20,000 in childcare expenses last year. If he had realized this he could have paid himself a little salary since there was some money left in the business when he closed it. The finanical pictures is just lousy at the moment. And we can't really look for a house or TTC until he is gainfully employed again. He has one real job lead and one consulting job lead on the pipe line but it is hard to stay up beat. So much for our plan to have one really nice date night to celebrate having some income. That will have to wait until the grandparents are around to sit and be scaled back to maybe half price theater tickets or dinner in a non-family style resturant.

Things could be worse. I am employed, I have health benefits, we have subidized daycare in a great center, we have saving even after DH extended unemployment, we have our health and we have family. We are blessed in the ways that count, but still.... every now I need to vent a little. It is hard to know what to say to DH about all this. If I saying anything critical it is just rubbing salt in a wound, since he already feel lousy. If I say everything is OK or will be fine, I am not acknowleding the situation and it makes DH feel like he the only responsible one in the family, if I say nothing I am again putting all the burden on DH. OK, vent over. Sorry for the whining. Just needed to get that out.

[mittyrd]

I feel like I have been out of touch for so long! Things are so busy at work and of course at home.

The babies have another cold :mad: and were up all night. Jake is doing good but definitely having his 2 year old moments. I'm thinking of moving bedtime back 1/2 hour b/c he is having a hard time all of a sudden. He is so wound up. Last night he's yelling from his bed "Momma, where r u" at the top of his lungs over and over. I want to be mad but he is so funny that I just crack up.

New pictures:

http://images.snapfish.com/346645%3A%3A5%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3233%3E4%3B4%3E%3A% 3B%3A%3E23244%3B4%3B%3A%3B%3A%3C8ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/346645%3A%3A5%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3257%3E3%3B%3A%3E357% 3EWSNRCG%3D32335%3A544%3B583nu0mrj
Jake had to be in the crib with them:
http://images.snapfish.com/346645%3A%3A5%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3257%3E3%3B%3A%3E357% 3EWSNRCG%3D32335%3A544%3B586nu0mrj

[Renrel]

You have the most adorable family Mittyrd. I love the matching shirts.

[mittyrd]

Thanks, Renrel! Sometimes I am amazed that I made them!

[jay&erinn]

mittyrd: What a handsome bunch!!!

kerrykate: Lauren is so cute! I love her hair.

We moved Mia into her "big girl" bed and room over the weekend. It's gone much better than I anticipated (*knock on wood*). She absolutely loves her new room, actually asking to play in there a lot of the time (she never played in her nursery). She's a little difficult to get to sleep, but not much different than the stuff she was trying to pull the past few weeks in her crib- needing another drink, having to go potty, etc. Once she's asleep, she's slept pretty well. Hopefully it continues. I'll have to post some pics of her in her new room when I actually get them uploaded.

[AlisonCO]

erinn - Hope the transition continues to be smooth - I too was shocked at how well it went here. There have been a few set backs, but for the most part it has been great.

Renrel - vent away - I can't imagine how hard it is for you to keep your attitude positive around DH. I do hope that he has more interviews soon. I hope that your grandmother is doing OK and not in any pain or discomfort - amazing isn't it thinking about living for over 90 years!

mittyrd - CUTE! I love the one of them in the crib - Aidan loves to get in the crib with Caitlin! The twins look so different than Jake. Hope that they are feeling better!

We are doing well. Aidan got a bit of a cold last Friday but seemed to beat it overnight. Unfortunately Caitlin got it and is teething! On Saturday he started to stutter a bit and was getting so frustrated - I think that his brain is just working faster than his vocab is ready for. He does love to ask questions and is using Where, Why, Who and When. Like Mia, Aidan loves his new Big Boy bed and spends some alone time in there everyday. It is actually really nice that he now has a comfy place to go when he needs a break. He loves to take his train engines to bed and have them go over the pillow and rail - he also takes books into bed and "reads" them. I am so impressed with his ability to look at the picture and make up a story about it. Many books he has memorized, but he still deviates from the written story.

I hope that you all are doing well! Have a great week:)

[jay&erinn]

Why, oh why, must my DD ask Why to everything I say. And not just once- 16 times in a row. Here's a recent conversation when we picked up our new car the other day (We broke down and got a minivan and I love it)
Mia gets into the car and asks where is the movie (she saw the brochure and thought we were spending the extra money on the DVD player- I don't think so).
Mia: Where's the movie?
Me:Our car doesn't come with one.
Mia: Why?
Me: Because it costs too much money.
Mia: Why?
Me: Because that's what the guy who sold the car told us.
Mia: Why?
Me: Because that's his job.
Mia: Why?
Me: Because he needs to work to make money.
Mia: Why?
And on and on, until I run out of answers. I can't take it. It's driving me crazy and it just started about a week ago.

he also takes books into bed and "reads" them. I am so impressed with his ability to look at the picture and make up a story about it.
Mia does this, and I love it. I need to get it on video before she grows out of it.

Mia has started pouting big time. Another 2 year old trait that I don't like. Today at the dinner table I told her she couldn't have a cookie because she hadn't eatten dinner. She crossed her arms over her chest, stuck her bottom lip out and said she wanted one. When I told her no again, she sat there like that for another 10 minutes (while asking me why to every explaination I would give). I hate to fall back on the I said so explaination, but after 20 whys in a row, I have no choice.

kerrykate: How are you doing?

Renrel: I hope things get better soon. It's such a tough situation to be in. Thank goodness you were well prepared financially prior to all of this- it would have sent many way into debt.

mittyrd: How are all the kiddos feeling? Have they recovered from their colds?

Question: Do you have any good friends that you are limiting time with because of their parenting styles or family situation?
I'm having a lot of guilt over this, that's why I bring it up. I have a very good friend, who I love spending time with. However, her kids are monsters. Our parenting styles are very different. In my house, you don't stand on the furniture, you sit at the dinner table during meals, you don't push other kids or take toys from them just because you want them. Many of those things are OK in her house (kids are just being kids). An hour with them, and I want to pull my hair out. Mia has a few "friends" that I can leave them alone and let them play together (while one room away) and trust that there won't be many arguments or any physical pushing, hitting. I have watched my friend's child intentionally trip Mia, push over his sister and then look right at me and say he didn't do anything. Mia also tends to get a little on the wild side after too much time together. I've backed away from our friendship a little, because I don't want to have to spend so much time "reprogramming" Mia after an hour with them, but I feel guilty about not being such a good friend. Have you been in this situation?

[Jenyfer9]

Erinn: yes, I can completely relate. Not so much on the behavior front (most of my friends have very similar parenting styles with one glaring exception, but that's one of my cousins, not really a friend), but just on the relationship they have with their kid(s) as a whole. I don't know why I let this bug me, but some of my friends are ALWAYS making something special for their kids to eat. Why is it necessary to ALWAYS make something different for your kids to eat... why do they ALWAYS have to have chicken nuggets or mac n cheese... I also think that these are the same people who talk to their kids in that "baby voice". Ugh, drives me crazy!

Fortunately (I guess), my best friend and her husband have decided not to have kids, so it really isn't an issue with her... she just has to put up with mine. :)

[jay&erinn]

I meant to update on Mia. She had a 2.5 year well child check yesturday. She had to go because of her lack of weight gain. She's now up to 24.8 pounds (gained 11 ounces in the past 4 months- YEA!) and is now 35 inches tall. She's somewhere around the 35th percentile for height and 6th for weight (at least she's back on the chart again). She did great- wanting to sit by herself for her check up and letting the doc do everything he needed to with only an occasional giggle and comment that it tickled. Even better, we don't have to go back until 3 years- no more weight checks for the time being:D
I just hope summer doesn't hurt too much- she loves being outside and runs and plays like a maniac. It's also a struggle (or should I say more of a struggle) to get her to eat when the weather is nice- she just wants to play.

The transition to a bed is still going well. Mia now knocks on her door when she wakes up in the morning. You hear her on the monitor moving around a little, and then suddenly you hear *knock, knock, knock*. Then she waits patiently for one of us to come open her door. It's pretty funny.

[Renrel]

Allison - Sorry about the cold and the teething. Sounds like you are getting a mommy workout at the moment. It is great that the big boy bed is working well for you guys. Gabe is so attached to his crib, and gets such a kick out of climbing into it, that I still can't see moving the the bed. Maybe we will get him a bed for his 3yr birthday. It is great that he tells his own stories from the pictures. Such a great imagination. Gabe pretty much tells the story as he knows it goes. He does change the words to his songs though to make up ones he likes better.

Errin - We have not gotten the "why" questions yet, though I have been wondering when that would start. I actual cringe when I hear myself asking him why questions figuring I am setting myself up. Gabe actually seems to have trouble understand the meaning of "why." He does not really use it correctly, though I can't think of an example at the moment.

We have not had an issue with how friends are raising their kids. We see so little of friends that it does not have much of a chance to come up. No one really lets their kids go wild. I think DH and I are probably more easy going on most stuff then our friends. Works OK since Gabe is pretty easy going. No pushing, hitting or taking toys away. But he does climb on stuff and does not always eat at the table. But we will conform to the rules at someone else house, and Gabe is used to different rules in different places (home, daycare, grandma's) so he adapts pretty well. The biggest issue has probably been cousins eatting more junk food, and even though we on see them a few times a year, Gabe has learned about sweets and will ask for them now.

Today was a mixed day. Gabe and DH went to Ho