MayJune05 Babies - Starting to turn 2 and a half!

[MayJune05Moms]

Welcome to the May/June 2005 Parenting thread!

To join, please submit a post to this thread with the following information:

Me: AGE (including real 1st name is optional)
DH: AGE ( " " " " " )
Married: Date
DD/DS: Birthdate (can include multiple stats here if you have more than one child - if you prefer)
Baby's Stats: Weight & Height (at Birth)
any other information provided is also optional. :)



Please post any requests for a change in roster info in RED. Thanks!

YOUR THREAD MODERATORS ARE DISNEYGIRL and ALIENHOST


----------------------------------------------------------

45 members, WOW!!! :D

ahavnes
Me: Alicia (31)
DH: Scott (32)
Married: 2/21/04
DD: Gabrielle Kathleen (Abbey)
Born: 5/29/05 (7lbs 9oz, 20.5 inches, 5:11pm)

alienhost
Me: 36
DH: 42
Married: 8/02
DD: Katherine 4/27/05

allyray231
Me: Allyson, 33
DH: Brad, 32
Married: 11/23/02
DS: Aiden Harrison, June 10, 2005

Aunt Liv
Me: Olivia, 30
DH: Adam, 33
Married: September 2, 2000
DD: Maia Sophie, 5/14/05

BAM 9-21-02
Me - 26
DH - 25
Married 9-21-02
DD - Emma Mary
Born 6-12-05
Weight 7lbs 6oz
Height 20 3/4 inches

BridalLace
Me: Heather, 35
DH: Cristian, 34
Married: 7/6/02
DD: Elodie Cristine, born May 7, 2005
8 lbs 2 oz; 19.5"

BTB
ME: 28
DH: 29
Married: June 29, 2002
DD: Evelyn Christine, born April 13, 2005

Carissa
Me: Carissa, 27
DH: Eric, 26
Married: August 17th, 2002
DD: Grace Elizabeth May 15th, 2005
6lbs. 3oz 12:34 p.m. 18"

christy1010
Me: Christy, 37
DH: Curt, 36
Married: 10/10/98
DD: Sarah Elizabeth 5/21/05 5:39pm
7lbs 10oz 20inches

Chylynn
Me: Chylynn (29)
DH: Dave (31)
Married: September 22, 2001
DD: Rebecca Ainsley, Born April 2nd, 2005

cynder
ME: 31
DH: 31
Married: May 25 2002
DS: Samuel Basil May 19, 2005

Dally
ME: 36
DH: 39
Married: August 18, 2002
DD: Annalie, May 12, 2005

December27JJB
Me: Jessica
DH: Joshua
Married: December 27, 2003
DD: Parker Alexandria 6/13/05

diedra1027
Me: Diedra, 31
DH: Blake, 34
Married: August 24, 2001
DD: Avery Jene born May 5, 2005

DisneyGirl
ME: Jenn, 31
DH: 31
Married: June 15,2002
DS: 9/30/03
DD: Nikki 5/10/05

Dreshny
Me: Roseanne, 32
DH: Daniel, 32
Married: 9/30/01
DS: Asher Isaiah 5/31/05

Ferris
Me: Kim (30)
DH: Brian (32)
Married: 7/13/02
DS: Douglas 5/21/05

happy1nuv
Me: 30
DH: 31
Married: 8/21/02
DS: Nic - 5/18/05

HedgeGirl
Me: Shann, 31
DH: 34
Married: Aug 17, 2002
DS Brady: June 22, 2005
Brady's Stats: At birth 6 lb, 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches

hub1176
Me: Kate 28
DH: Bruce 33
Married 7/20/02
DD: Rhiley Beatrice, June 1, 2005

IrishEyes
Me: 33
DH: 34
Married: April 26, 2002
DS: Brody, born 5/25/05

Jessiesmama
Me: 34
DH: 35
Married: June 8, 2003
DD: Jessica Alexa
DOB: June 8, 2005
Time:8:29pm
Weight:8 lbs 3 oz
Length:21 1/2 inches

jmvan74
ME: 33
DH: 30
Married: July 24th, 2004
DS: born June 13th, 2005

jrdhbunny
Me: 34
DH: 37
Married: 7/26/03
DS: James Edward, 4/26/05

kelseyledare
Me: 27
DH: 36
DD: Ava Victoria
6/10/2005 10:59 AM
6 lb 6 oz, 20 in

KGif
Me - Kelly 32
DH - Mike 36
Married May 3, 2003
DS, Jack, born May 16, 2005; 7 lbs 13 oz; 21 inches

kimthebride
Me: Kim, 31
DH: Tom, 31
Married: 10/18/03
DS: Thomas Ryan, June 3, 2005

kphillips4
Me: Kimberly (26)
DH: Chris (29)
Married: 3/13/2004
DD:06/17/2005
Baby's Stats: 7pds. 9 ounces and 20 inches long

ladybug0525
ME: Judie
DH: Jason
DS: Jack Campbell born 5/16/05
Married: 05/25/02

lattee22
Me: lattee22, Jaime, 29
DH: Brian, 27
Married: September 21, 2001
DD: Noelle, born May 2, 2005
Baby's Stats: 8lbs., 3 oz., 20 inches

LIZNKEITH
Me: Liz, 28
DH: Keith, 37
Married: July 28, 2001
DD: Caroline Elizabeth, June 15th
Baby's Stats: 6lbs 13 oz, 20.5 inches

Misty911
Me: Misty, 28
DH: Patrick, 30
SD: Trisha, 9
DS: Caleb, 21 months Born Dec. 23, 2003 8lb 9oz 22" Long
DD: Emily, 5 Months Born May 9, 2005 6lb 13oz 19" Long

Mrs.Chappy
Me:29
DH:29
DS: Benjamin born 6-8-05
7.15 oz 20.5 inches.

Natrat80
me-Natalie 25
DH-Keri 26
Married 05.25.02
DD: Addison Grace, born 06.14.05
6 lbs 6 oz 18 1/2 inches

njnewyearsbride
Me: 32
DH: 32
Married: 12/31/03
DD: Hazel - 5/26/05
7lbs 4.8oz 21.5"

Pam27
me: Pam 28
DH: Ryan 27
Married: July 27, 2001
DD: Taylor Louise January 10, 2002
DS: Colin George May 4, 2005

portlandbride
Me: Brandi, 33
DH: Preston, 32
Married: September 16, 2001
DD: Brynn Pamela, May 12, 2005

psusna
Me: Becky, 30
DH: Doug, 33
Married: 9/22/01
DS: Jackson (5/3/05)
Stats: Birth--7lb. 7oz., 21"

rancherswife
Me: Kim 26
Dh: Brett 26
Ds: Landon Joseph 6/4/05 7lbs. 4 oz. 21 1/4 inches

Sasha
Me: Sasha, 31
DH: Greg, 36
Married: Nov. 3, 2001
DD: Sarah Elise, born May 16, 2005

September2002
Me: Carolyne, 34
DH: 32
Married: September 7, 2002
DD: Samantha, born December 19, 2003
DD: Grace, born June 2, 2005

Sherah
Me: 25
DH: 26
Married: 12/5/03
DS: Arik, 5-11-05

tgray99
Me: Tara 30
DH: 29
Married: 11/15/03
DD: Aidan Christine - 5/09/05
8lbs 3oz 20"

tgr68
Me: 27
DH: 28
Married: 6/1/02
DD: Shylah Ryann
Born: 6/18/05 (8lbs 0.8oz, 19 inches, 10:44am)

traciann
Me: Traci (30)
DH: Timothy (35)
Married: 11.23.02
DD: Mary Kate 4.26.05

usafwife
Me: 29
DH: 40
Married: 2004
DD: S
born 2005


wendstress
Me: Wendy, 29
DH: Jon, 34
Married: 4/28/01
DS: James Jack, born May 10, 2005

WinterBride1253
Me: 31
DH: 31
Married: 12/6/03
DS: Cole Robert, June 15, 2005

[MayJune05Moms]

Birthdays listed by date, and their Mommies... :)


4/2/05
Rebecca Ainsley...Chylynn

4/13/05
Evelyn Christine...BTB

4/26/05
Mary Kate...traciann
James Edward...jrdhbunny

4/27/05
Katherine...alienhost

----------------------------------------------------------
5/2/05
Noelle...lattee22

5/3/05
Will...Jenyfer9
Jackson...psusna

5/4/05
Colin George...Pam27

5/5/05
Avery Jene...diedra1027

5/7/05
Elodie Cristine...BridalLace

5/9/05
Aidan Christine...tgray99

5/10/05
Nikki...DisneyGirl
James Jack...wendstress

5/11/05
Arik...Sherah

5/12/05
Annalie...Dally
Brynn Pamela...portlandbride

5/14/05
Maia Sophie...Aunt Liv

5/15/05
Grace Elizabeth...Carissa

5/16/05
Sarah Elise...Sasha
Jack Campbell...ladybug0525
Jack...KGif

5/18/05
Dominic Jeffrey (Nic)...happy1nuv

5/19/05
Samuel Basil...cynder

5/21/05
Douglas...Ferris
Sarah Elizabeth...christy1010

5/25/05
Brody...IrishEyes

5/26/05
Hazel...njnewyearsbride

5/29/05
Gabrielle Kathleen (Abbey)...ahavnes

5/31/05
Asher Isaiah...Dreshny


---------------------------------------------------------------

6/1/05
Rhiley Beatrice...hub1176
Peter James...yooper

6/2/05
Grace...September2002

6/3/05
Thomas Ryan...kimthebride

6/4/05
Landon Joseph...rancherswife

6/8/05
Benjamin...Mrs.Chappy
Jessica Alexa...Jessiesmama

6/9/05
Ethan...golfer_girl

6/10/05
Aiden Harrison...allray231
Ava Victoria...kelseyledare
Madison Hannah and Logan Mackenzie...sabrinag

6/12/05
Emma Mary...BAM 9-21-02

6/13/05
Parker Alexandria...December27JJB
Collin Todd...jmvan74

6/14/05
Addison Grace...Natrat80

6/15/05
Caroline Elizabeth...LIZNKEITH
Cole Robert...WinterBride1253

6/17/05
Haley...kphillips4

6/18/05
Shylah Ryann...tgr68

6/22/05
Brady...HedgeGirl


S...usafwife

[MayJune05Moms]

2 year stats!

ahavnes
Abbey:
Weight- 29 lbs (55%)
Height- 35.5 inches (75%...does that sound right? I think she is taller than about 95% of girls her age.)

Alienhost
Katherine
Weight: 22 lbs 2ozs
Height 33 1/2 inches

allyray231
Aiden:
weight: 25lbs 3 oz
height: 35 inches

Aunt Liv
Maia
Weight - 25lbs 14oz (50th percentile)
Height - 34.5" (75th percentile)

christy1010
Sarah:
Weight: 21Lbs 5oz 3%
Height: 31 inches 5%

Chylynn
Rebecca:
Weight: 28 lbs
Height: 34 inches

cynder
Sam:
Weight - 23.5 lbs (3%)
Height - 32.5 inches (5%)

DisneyGirl
Nikki:
Weight: 29 LBS
Height: 33.25 inches

Dreshny
Asher:
Weight: 24.4 lbs (9%)
Height: 33 1/2 inches (36%)

happy1nuv
Nic:
Weight: 25 lbs (50th %)
Height: 36" (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 19 1/4" (75%)

IrishEyes
Brody:
Weight: 32 lbs
Height: 38 inches

Jessiesmama
Jessie:
Weight: 22 lbs 14 oz (6th percentile)
Height: 33 inches

jmvan74
Collin:
Weight: 28lbs 7oz.
Height: 36 inches (WOW!)

jrdhbunny
James:
Weight: 25 lbs 14 ounces (25%)
Height: 35" (75%)
Head Circum: 19.5 (50%)

KGif
Jack:
Weight: 33 lbs
Height: 35 1/2 inches

kimthebride
Thomas:
weight: 29.5 lbs
height: 34.5" tall (but his legs were bent, so this is wrong )

LIZNKEITH
Caroline:
Weight: 25 pounds, 2 ounces
Length: 33 inches

njnewyearsbride
Hazel:
weight: 28.5 lbs
height: 36"

portlandbride
Brynn
Weight: 26.6 lbs.
Height: 36 inches

psusna
Jackson:
Weight: 34.2 lbs (>95%)
Height: 39" (>95%)
Head Circum: 20 3/8 (90%)

rancherswife
Landon:
weight: 28lbs.
height: 34 1/2 inches

Sasha
Sarah:
Weight: 27lbs
Height: 36.5 inches (Sorry, but I really think it's more like 36")

tgr68
Shylah:
Height: 33 inches (25th percentile)
Weight: 26 lbs (50th percentile)
HC: 20 inches

tgray99
Aidan:
Weight: 29 lbs (80th %-tile)
Height: 34" (50th %-tile)
Head: 18" (90th %-tile)

wendstress
James:
Weight - 32 lbs (85%)
Height - 34 inches (33%)

[MayJune05Moms]

Repeat Offenders:

Congratulations to these Mommies and their newest additions:

Misty911
Joshua Holden on March 31, 2006

hub1176
Mia Angeline 7lbs 4ounces 20 inches long at 9:50 July 31st.

jennylou
Eleanor (Nora) Grace 7 lbs 9 oz, 20.25" August 10th

portlandbride
Addison September 24, 2006 at 8:28 pm.
7 lbs. 9 ounces; 19 3/4 inches long.

Carissa
Jonah Eric December 7, 2006 at 10:04 am
6 lbs 14 oz; 20 inches long

jmvan74
Brady Newell 9:31 on Jan 17, 2007
7lbs 14oz and 21 inches long

usafwife
A January 2007

njnewyearsbride
North Phelps 12:20PM on February 23, 2007
10 lbs 1oz and 22 inches long

rancherswife
Reece Carter 4:03 p.m. on February 26, 2007
7lbs. and 20 1/2 inches long

ladybug0525
Cooper Joseph born on March 14, 2007
9 lb 8 oz and 20 1/2 inches long

happy1inuv
Joseph Charles 4:14pm on March 23, 2007
8 lbs 2 oz and 20 3/4 inches long

diedra1027
Ian Charles 9:42am on March 29, 2007
8 lbs 2 oz, 19.5" long

wendstress
Alexander Jon April 2, 2007
8 lbs 6 oz, 20 1/4 inches long

kimthebride
Ava Siena 5:16am on April 17, 2007
6lbs and 15oz, 20 inches long

DisneyGirl
Baby Boy on August 2007

Aunt Liv
Amelia Celine on October 10, 2007
4lbs 10oz, and 18" long

LIZNKEITH
Megan Leigh on January 12, 2008 at 10:52 am
6 pounds 12.6 ounces, 19.5 inches long

jrdhbunny
Guinevere Eileen on March 13,2008 at 8;18 pm
6lbs 14 oz, 19 inches long

ferris
Margaret (Maggie) Aline on March 16, 2008 at 12:25 am
6lbs 4oz, 18 inches long

cynder
Katherine (Kate) on March 21, 2008
5lb 10oz

tgr68
Caedmon Gregor on April 2, 2008 at 6:34pm
8lbs 7.8oz, 20 inches long

Mrs Chappy
Jacob Bryce on April 26, 2008 at 8:27 am
8 pounds 14 oz, 21 inches

--------------------------------------------------------

Currently Expecting:

bridalLace It's a Boy
EDD: 4/7/08

IrishEyes
EDD: 5/4/08 - It's A Boy!

Jessiesmama
EDD - 5/12/08

hedgegirl
EDD: 7/6/08

Chylynn
EDD: 9/28/08

rancherswife
EDD: 10/16/08

[MayJune05Moms]

Thread Histories: these links are now working! yeah! :D

MayJune05Moms Thread Archive (CC Threads):

MayJune05 Babies - So Much To Do at 2! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33937)
MayJune05 Babies - We're All Turning 2! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31813)
MayJune05 Babies - Our Little Ones are Almost 2! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29366)
MayJune05 Babies - Passing the 18 month mark! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27434)
Walking, Talking, Getting into Everything! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25186)
Toddlers Already?! (CC-Vol VII) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23037)
Happy Birthday to You! (CC-Vol VI) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19988)
Almost 1 Year Old!(CC-Vol V) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17367)
Counting Down to Birthday #1!(CC - Vol IV) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13352)
Nearing the 6 Month Milestone!(CC - Vol III) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9575)
NEW! May/June '05 Parenting Thread - OPEN FOR POSTING!(CC - Vol II) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5147)
MayJune05Mommies (CC - Vol I) (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=664)

May 2005 Thread Archives
Vol VI - 45 Peas in a Pod!! (Vol VI) (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=489050&tstart=50)

Vol V - 45 Peas in a Pod! (Vol V) (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=484869&tstart=50)

Vol IV - 45 Peas in a Pod! (Vol IV) (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=479932&tstart=75)

Vol III - 42 Peas in a Pod, Due 5/05! (Vol III) (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=477234&tstart=75)

Vol II - 42 Peas in a Pod, Due 5/05! (Vol II) (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=473349&tstart=75)

Vol I - PG & Due in May 05! (Vol I) (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=469446&tstart=75)

June 2005 Thread Archives
3rd trimester - Junebugs 2005: Welcome Sierra, Matthew, Liam, Parker, Sarah, Dean, & Kevin! (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=486105&tstart=0)

2nd trimester - Junebugs: The Next Generation! The Second Tri... 12 Boys, 13 Girls and 8 Surprises (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=477403&tstart=120)

1st trimester - Junebugs: The Next Generation! *32* due in June 2005 (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=471862&tstart=165)

[MayJune05Moms]

saving......

[MayJune05Moms]

saving one more....

[MayJune05Moms]

Good Morning Ladies, here is our new thread, post away!

Please let me know of any stat changes, new ROs etc.!

Ferris and Mrs Chappy, I added your due dates

-alienhost

[alienhost]

duh, I posted this in the old thread...

Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I hate that any little cold turns into this horrible crap! My poor baby, he sounds terrible...and he doesn't understand that when he continues to bounce around, business as usual, it makes him worse.

I hope L is feeling better today. I hear you on this one, how is it that a sick toddler can have so much energy!

World Series I've been staying up way too late watching Red Sox vs Indians but I am SOOOOO excited the Sox made it to the World Series!!!! Yippee!

ETA:

flu shots??? Are you getting your kiddos a flu shot this year?

[IrishEyes]

Ally - Big, big congrats to you and Brad!

Liv - Big, big congrats on the new arrival, Amelia! The family looks great in that picture (and you look especially fantastic considering you just had a baby)!

Kim - congrats on selling the condo and buying a house. I'm so happy that adventure is over for you!

Flu shot - DH actually took a half day to go to his office's flu shot clinic they had for half a day only to show up and find out they did not have doses for children. He was so peeved considering he filled out the paperwork for Brody and himself and obviously indicated he was bringing a child. We may call around and try to find one. I guess I can call my ped, but I know they didn't do them last year because they found the distributors weren't reliable. Perhaps it's different this year since there seems to be more of a supply. I do want to get him one since he's new to daycare and I'm pregnant.

[Sasha]

Thanks for the new thread!

Congrats, Liv! She is beautiful.

Alicia - Hehe, so not surprised. I do give Sarah a choice of what to wear, the problem is she generally says no to both choices. If it's a dress, then we have no problem, but I simply do not own enough dresses for her to put her in one every day of the week!

Chylynn - I tried that a long time ago. Only problem is that her doll with the potty is packed away in the POD in front of my house. Although I could probably do it on the big potty....

Flu Shots - I definitely one to get one for her (and me!). With her being in daycare, I think it's a must.

[psusna]

Thank you for the new thread!

Flu shot: All 3 of us are getting them at the ped's tomorrow afternoon. I agree with Sasha -- it's a daycare must.

[diedra1027]

Clothing battles - Letting her choose between two shirts has helped A LOT at our house. She only seems to care about picking the shirt...doesn't care what pants I put on her.

Flu Shots - Haven't decided yet.

[cynder]

flu shots??? Yes! Look, I know there is a lot of discussion on this board and in the news about vaxes, "superbugs", and colds but please consider the flu shot for you and your loved ones. Influenza kills about 36,000 Americans every year and puts more children in the hospital than any other vaccine-preventable disease.

For those that might want to avoid the flu injection itself there is a nasal mist that is FDA approved for 24-59 months old without a history of recurrent wheezing, as well as for healthy persons ages 5-49 years who are not pregnant. (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm)

DS does get wheezy with colds so we doing the Fluzone shot (which is completely thimerosal-free in the single dose form).

[jmvan74]

flu shots: Both boys were given the flu shot at Brady's 9 months WCV.

[Dreshny]

Thanks for the new thread!

[LIZNKEITH]

Thanks for the new thread!

Congratulations, Aunt Liv!! Amelia is adorable. I love that she's already sportin' a little UGA hat. So cute!

Flu Shots
Definitely! With our asthma (not to mention a new baby coming during the height of flu season) dare I say it's a necessity? I got mine a couple of weeks ago through my employer and Caroline is scheduled to get hers on the 9th through her allergist.


Ack!!! Just noticed I'm the next one "up to bat" on the RO list. :eek:

[jrdhbunny]

Thanks for the new thread!!

Flu shots- I'll probably get mine at my OB appt next Wednesday. I need to call and get James scheduled for his through the ped.

Testing, 1...2...3..., Testing- So DS has been ridiculously defiant lately. Oy. Everything is a struggle, even things that he loves to do- like going outside and playing. He does not listen to me AT ALL and often will just ignore me. Which is somewhat preferable to his other response "NO/YES! I SAY NO/YES, MOMMY!". He did have one funny moment today; after ripping all the freshly-folded clothes off the couch, he said he was looking for his toy cars. I found them and tossed them to the ground (nowhere near him mind you- no chance of injury!). In a very stern voice he said, "Mommy. No throw cars. Only throw balls." Well, at least he's gotten one message.

Seriously though- I am at the end of my patience, which is razor thin to begin with. I need to pick up a discipline book, stat!

[happy1nuv]

congrats aunt liv - shes gorgeous!

yay kim! woohoo! i would babyproof enough that you feel kids are safe even when not in view... the rest is just a mess to clean up, yanno?

great new thread - thanks!
:)

[tgr68]

Thanks for the new thread!!

Flu Shots~Still undecided here. I've never had one and neither has DD yet. A relative of ours who is a nurse told us that getting them in October though was silly in her opinion. She said that the shots only last about 3 months (as far as their most effective timeframe), and flu season peaks in Jan-Feb. She always holds off until around December 1 to get hers. The nasal spray option sounds interesting though.

Ally~Huge congrats on Brad's job!! :D

jrdhbunny~We are having the same issue with DD. She challenges DH and I (more me) on EVERYTHING! Mostly ours is over doing things herself. Plus, when we tell her no, she resorts to whining. We've never given in, but there are times she'll whine for 30 minutes or more, which makes us all cranky.

[jmvan74]

jrdhbunny: We are having the same issues, here. Collin has gone from bad to worse! The defiance is so bad and I'm not sure how to handle it. *sigh* So frustrating.

[christy1010]

Thanks for the new thread!

I have been missing in action due to almost a month of illness between DD, DH and myself.

Aunt Liv Congratulations on the birth of your new daughter! You have a lovely family.

jmvan74 and jrdhbunny I can so relate to your fustrations and concerns. Sarah has been climbing and defiante since the weekend! Multiple time outs at home and at school for climbing. So fustrating, because she hates the time outs and almost enjoys the attention of getting in trouble.

Flu ShotsSarah got her flu shot in Oct. DH and I were still sick and did not get ours. I will most likely get mine in Nov. Still need to figure out when to get DH he found out last month that his MD is no longer in practice.

[Dreshny]

flu shot: Got mine today at the drugstore. I was worried about how Asher would do waiting in a line for an hour, but aside from unscrewing a bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap and nearly taking a swig, he was very well-behaved.

I am surprised these days how little-boy-like Asher has become. I've been having long conversations with him lately. Where did the baby go?

[jrdhbunny]

Thanks for the commiseration, ladies! To top it all off, DS hasn't slept well the past week and fought his nap like a crazy boy today. If DH wasn't working his other job tonight I would have given up, but I needed the time to decompress and prepare for the long night ahead. :rolleyes:

dreshny- It is so fun; DS and I "talk" about all kinds of things. :D

[rancherswife]

I am surprised these days how little-boy-like Asher has become. I've been having long conversations with him lately. Where did the baby go?


I know!!! Brett and I have been talking about this a lot lately. It's amazing, like someone flipped a switch and turned him into a "kid"...sad, but also soo cool. I love our conversations. :)

flu shots: I will ask tomorrow since we'll be there in the a.m. for a re-check on Landon's bronchitis, but I think we'll probably do it for both of them at Reece's 9 mo. WBV next month. I've never had one, not even when I was pg, I know...my OB wasn't happy about it, and it wasn't because I didn't want to get it, it was kind of a fluke and I just never got around to it. I think dh and i will both get one this year.

[alienhost]

Big Kid Conversations aren't they fun? DH is thrilled that when he asks DD what she did today that she actually answers him. Got to love it!

flu shots all three of us are supposed to get them this Saturday but we are all still sick so we might have to make other arrangements. I need to see how DD is tomorrow and call the ped's office back. I have a lingering cough so I might be able to get it. DH has the cold now and probably will miss. Joy!

[diedra1027]

Flu shots - I decided to go ahead and get them for everyone. The kids will get theirs at Ian's 9 month WBV and since I'm volunteering at a hospital now, I'm going to get one through them (I think it's free!!).

Conversations - This is so fun. I'm sure to an outsider we sound like very strange people. Avery's imagination is in full force, so sometimes we have the oddest talks (like last night when we were talking about where Santa lives and she decided he lives at the swimming pool - LOL!).

[alienhost]

Conversations - This is so fun. I'm sure to an outsider we sound like very strange people. Avery's imagination is in full force, so sometimes we have the oddest talks (like last night when we were talking about where Santa lives and she decided he lives at the swimming pool - LOL!).

LOL! Last night DD was looking for her wallet in the toy box and saying "I have to go get my coffee before the library closes." She found the wallet and pulled out the old Starbucks gift card I put in there. I asked her where she was going to buy coffee and she said "at the library, come on we have to hurry it's closing". Not sure where that came from! Mind you she doesn't drink coffee but I guess I take her to Starbuck too often! ;)

[Sasha]

Alien - That story is so funny and cute!

Conversations - Sarah has quite the imagination too. Right now, she is always talking about "going to work." She'll say how someone wasn't at school today because they were at work or how she has to get her dolls ready so they can go to work.

DH is gone for 5 days, so I am hoping the tantrums can stay at a miniumum, LOL. However the good news is that the constuction on our house from the flood is almost done and we are moving back home this weekend! Minus the new kitchen, that won't be done until early December....but as long as I have a refridgerator, microwave, paper plates, plastic silverware and takeout, we'll manage! We have been living with my ILs and I sooooo need to get out of that living situation. :o

[jmvan74]

conversations: We have some funny ones, too. Collin's big in to pretend now, too. He's always saving someone or something. His tag line is "Don't worry, I'll save you!" :p My hero.

[tgr68]

Defiance~Hopefully all our kids will start behaving soon! ;)

Big Kid Conversations~I love this!! The other day, DD and I were watching The Little Mermaid when she looked up at me and asked, "What is going to happen next, mom?" It just totally caught me by surprise. She's always been rather vocal and had a strong vocabularly, but this really surprised me by how mature her voice sounded as she asked me the question.

MIL Vent~Okay, she really did it today. We had said that they (FIL and MIL) could take DD to the HS football game out of town tonight. Well, the last couple of days it's been in the upper 70's. Tonight it was supposed to get down to the upper 30's, so DH and I set out her fleece lined jeans, a sweatshirt, her Dora beanie, gloves, and a faux fur & quilted lined hoodie (don't let the word "hoodie" fool you, it's warmer than her heaviest coat from last year). Well, MIL called us around lunch to make sure we would dress her appropriately. DH said that we had her warm clothes laid out and ready to go. MIL continued to go on and on and on about making sure we dress her appropriately. I finally got sick of it (and could tell DH was beginning to get annoyed) and blurt out "No, I was going to send her in a tank and daisy dukes!" DH smirked and passed along the very sarcastic message - to which MIL thought I was being totally serious! :rolleyes: :mad: WTH? What kind of mother does she think I am? Grrrrr!!! Then, as if that conversation wasn't enough, when she came by to pick up a couple of extra things for DD for the evening, she mentioned that g-gma didn't think the coat was heavy enough and DD would need something else for the game. DH told her that the items we sent her plenty sufficient for the temperatures. She got this look of annoyance on her face, and DH told her to hold on. He came back in and cleared out the entire coat closet of DD's coats (even the ones that didn't fit anymore), took them back to MIL, and told her "Here! Pick whichever one you think will be appropriate then!" (Okay, not the most mature move but what did she expect after a second conversation of this nature.) She started to get all defensive, and he basically told her that if she didn't trust us and our parenting skills, then she can pick the coat she thinks is most appropriate.

Ugh!!! I am so sick of this kind of stuff. Like, DH said she acts like we are incapable of making wise parenting decisions! :mad: :mad: Anyway, I just had to vent somewhere.

[happy1nuv]

ugh tgr... maybe not mature, but what else can ya do? rehash for a third time?!?

I'm loving hearing all the conversations... nic's not quite there yet, but we're getting there...and its funny to try and piece together what he's saying... yesterday i made a bowl of popcorn (it was raining...again...and i was running out of ideas, but popcorn takes a LONG time to eat :) ...when a piece fell on the floor ...he called out "puppy, eat" ... we got rid of our dog over the summer. I can't BELIEVE he still remembers we used to eat popcorn and share with the dog!!!!

And.... rainy day score... i'm starting to go through our junk room and i found some old plastic easter eggs. We made an obstacle course on the floor with blue painting tape (straight line for "balance beam", squares to jump between), added his slide .... had an obstacle course thing going where we took an egg from one basket at one side of the house through to the other and then ran back for the rest. Good waste of time AND energy!!!

[DisneyGirl]

trg I just had to comment...GO DH! I would have done the same exact thing your DH did. Mature or not..I mean how much more BS are you guys suppose to take from her.

My kids have a holloween party today at the YMCA and I am pleased to say..thats of course its pouring rain..Wonderful

[allyray231]

I thought it was quiet in here and then realized that I missed the new thread! THANK YOU SO MUCH for the congrats :)

flu shot-waiting for the ped to get more. I am KICKING myself for not giving it to Aiden when I had him in a few weeks ago for his cough recheck. I was so worried he would get a reaction and then be sicker! AHH! They are suppose to call me when the next shipment comes in-should be anytime in the next 2 weeks

behavior I wrote about this in my LJ but my child is insane right now. I really don't know what happen but he FREAKS at everything. And there is biting-god save me. He just has no paitence and he seems like he is either having a hard time telling me what he wants OR he just doesn't want to. It is killing me. Freaks out in public and everything. I really need to figure out what is going on with this kid.

[DisneyGirl]

Nikki starts her tumble class today.. can't wait! Maybe she will burn all her energy while there..one could hope..right?

[ahavnes]

Behavior-It’s hit or miss here. We just got back from 4 days and 3 nights in Philadelphia for a wedding. Abbey was absolutely fabulous on the plane and at all of the very adult events leading up to the wedding. She was even great at the reception. Ironically, the only behavior problems we had were when we did things for her, like take her to the indoor pool at the hotel and the Philly Children’s Museum. She went in time out a few times for biting me and hitting Scott. WTH? I think she knows when it’s clutch time and she has to behave, but wants to test us the rest of the time. :o

[Sasha]

Behavior - Good days and bad days here too. Yesterday afternoon was a bad one. We had to go pick DH up from the airport and she refused to put on her shoes, ran away, did the "wet noodle", kicked, screamed, you name it. And after 5 days of being a single parent, well, let's just say yelling back at her and pinning her down to put shoes on wasn't my proudest moment. :o But then you have the night before where I took her to the mall and she was perfect, held my hand, sat nicely at the food court. I always say that kids know their parents have to love them, so they save all the bad stuff for us and the good stuff for everyone else. ;)

Let me just add, that after 5 days of single parenthood, I thought about Tgray a lot, and I have all the respect in the world for you. I don't know how you do it, but I really admire you for it!

Dentist - I was at the dentist this morning and they gave me a reccommendation for a pediatric dentist. Who has taken their kid? Did they actually sit still for an exam? What did they do? I seriously started to chuckle when I even think about getting Sarah to sit still for that, there will just be no way!

[cynder]

Dentist Haven't done it but one of my BFF is one. What we think of a dentist appt is not what they have to go through. They have their own techniques to get the little ones to open up most of the time. Mostly the first visit is just counting teeth and getting them used to the area. BFF informally checks DS's teeth when we visit but won't remotely do the same thing for me.

Behavior - We're on a decent streak but we are having a HARD time with fall clothes by refusing pants and jackets. DH felt like slacker parent on his walk with Ds yesterday because the kid was in a t shirt.

Alicia Did ditching the car seat work for you guys. It sounds like it did!

[ahavnes]

cynder-It worked like a charm, thank you! Although I did have to pull out the old "the pilot will kick you off if you don't stay in your seat" line. ;)

[LIZNKEITH]

Dentist,
We had Caroline in to see one when she was about 18 months old. They didn't do too much in the way of an exam. She "examined" her teeth with a toothbrush and pretended to brush. Caroline cooperated long enough to let her get a good look at her teeth to make sure everything was coming in correctly and no visible concerns. She said cleanings don't generally start until age 3 or so. HTH!

[happy1nuv]

im dreading the dentist with nic... so, are you taking dc to YOUR dentist, or searching out a ped dentist?

[allyray231]

I spoke to my hygenist when I got my teeth cleaned. She said a good way to start is to bring the kids in when you have an appt and let them see you get your teeth cleaned. Then if they want to sit in the chair they can and have their teeth looked at.

My dentist has been my dentist since I was a kid so I plan to just go to him.

[tgr68]

Thanks for letting me vent about MIL! I was just about to bust from frustration over the whole thing. She ended up buying DD a heavier coat on Saturday, which initially peeved me off again about the whole situation. DH and I talked about it and he understood where I was coming from (again feeling like she did not trust our parenting decision). Then I took a close look at the coat once I calmed down, and it actually is a very pretty coat - one of those 4-n-1 types in plum & pink.

Behavior~DD has gone to the extreme in her favoring of DH over me. DH is even tired of it. She won't let me do anything and even yells at me if I don't let her do something herself or that she wants DH to help her with. For a while it worked to have DH tell her "I want Mommy to do it." Now, she's not falling for it. I just don't know what to do with the new behavior.

Disney~How did tumbling class go?

Dentist~We still haven't taken DD, but we plan to just take her to mine & DH's dentist.

Last night we did pumpkin carving! We took our pumpkin over to ILs house where DD helped DH clean it out, and I did a bulk of the carving. DD chose a spider to go on it, and she kept demanding that we turn the light back off when we were trying to pack up to come home. :D I have pics, but still need to get them uploaded.

[happy1nuv]

tgr - wanna trade? nic is still a super mama's boy... and so is joe. poor dh has a total chip on his shoulder that our kids don't like him...

[jrdhbunny]

dentist- We took DS to a ped dentist in August (I think). They did actually clean his teeth- they tried him out in the chair first and he did ok, but then started to get upset. So the dr had me hold him in my lap facing me and put his head in her lap (facing up). She was able to do a pretty thorough job; they have a device that they use to prop the mouth open- but then had to stop because he got too freaked out.

tgr- Grrrrr! Don't get me started on meddling MILs! I love mine, but sometimes I want to tell her to mind her own beeswax!

Crummy halloween- Poor James has a pretty rotten cold. :( We had to miss our MOMs Club Halloween party today and our family party this evening. I hope he's better for trick or treating tomorrow- he loves his costume! I did manage to get him in for pictures before the cold erupted and spent WAAAY too much money (shhhh- don't tell DH!).

Sibling Update- TM, please add to my stats that it looks like we're having a little girl! And my due date is now 3/26/08.

[jmvan74]

Congrats on a little Girl!,jrdhbunny:D

[DisneyGirl]

jrd Congrats on your little girl! Any names yet?

[MayJune05Moms]

Sibling Update- TM, please add to my stats that it looks like we're having a little girl! And my due date is now 3/26/08.

All set! Congrats on having a girl!

-alienhost

[alienhost]

quick driveby:

jrdhbunny congrats on a little girl!

dentist so not looking forward to this. We will probably find a ped dentist vs using ours since DH and I have different dentists anyway.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

[allyray231]

jrdhbunny congrats on a little girl!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

[Dreshny]

jrdh: Congrats!!

[rancherswife]

Happy Halloween!!!

Congrats jrdh!!!


x-mas shopping: So, I've started my list of people to buy for and ideas. I'm at a total loss this year with Landon, what are you guys thinking of for these kiddo's?

[allyray231]

Christmas Oh god don't remind me! We are getting Aiden a train table and some musical instruments :)

[jmvan74]

Happy Halloween!

Xmas: We're getting Collin a train table. I'm thinking about getting him the Fisher Price Little People Pirate Ship, a mini-tampoline, books and puzzles.

[Sasha]

Happy Halloween! Hope everyone has fun taking the kids trick or treating!

Congrats on the girl, jrdh!

Holidays - It's Halloween, do I already have to be thinking about Christmas and Hanukkah!? :p Don't have anything in particular pegged yet, but I am sure there will be something that involves princesses, her newest obsession. Since I have the opportunity to rearrange her play area (now that we moved back home!) I'd like to get her a little table and chairs too.

[happy1nuv]

Happy Halloween!

congrats jrd!

christmas: we're getting wooden trians/train table for nic too... probably also a few different construction sets (magnetic ones, gears etc.)...

we have a mini trampoline - anyone thinkinng about it should definitely do it! worth its weight - esp on rainy/cold days!

[ahavnes]

Congrats jrdhbunny! :) Girls rule!!

Holiday Presents-Abbey already has way too many toys and books. I am hoping to actually make it a lean Christmas from both Scott and I and our families. I want to get her a doctor's kit and a table/chairs set and that's pretty much it. I hope she gets lots of clothes from family, b/c she ruins them all at school and needs more! :o

[DisneyGirl]

we have a mini trampoline - anyone thinkinng about it should definitely do it! worth its weight - esp on rainy/cold days!

HMMM.. I think I may add this too Nikki X-mas list...Thank for the idea


xmas So far that only things I can think of are: fisher price twin doll house & some other doll from fisher price I think its new this year. Other than that she alreay has a table/chair set & her brother received the train set last year.

[jrdhbunny]

Thanks everyone!

disney- Luckily we came to a decision on a name pretty quickly- Guinevere Eileen.

xmas- I told DH we should start thinking about it and he looked at me like I had two heads. :p

[diedra1027]

Happy Halloween!!

Christmas - Little People sets and more books. I'm at a loss for both kids this year and I don't want to go over the top.

[cynder]

Congrats jrdhbunny! I find out next week, hopefully!

x-mas shopping :eek::eek::eek:

Just kidding. That's my reaction every year. We're getting him a kitchen set (the blue one from Target) and that's it. I am still a Scrooge when he gets presents and horde them away. I pull them out at various points (bad day, distraction, toilet training, etc). I still have a few more Bday gifts to pull out. The other idea I had was transforming the train table which has lost its luster into a arts and crafts table with a table top easel etc.

[DisneyGirl]

disney- Luckily we came to a decision on a name pretty quickly- Guinevere Eileen.



Thats such a pretty name...I love names that are not over the top popular.
Question: Does the name(guinevere) mean Jennifer?

[christy1010]

Congrats on your Girljrdhbunny

ChristmasDH actually brought up the subject several weeks ago. Very shocking to me. We are getting DD a vacume cleaner. I have thought about the Fisher Price Digital Camera. Anyone know if they make Toddler jewlry like necklases, watches, ect. She wants an Umbrella. Clothes, I am sure I will find more for her as the time approaches.

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

[rancherswife]

x-mas: I was also think of a kitchen, train table/set...he has a table and chairs, I like the F/P dig. camera too......mini trampoline, call me stupid, but can you post a pic. of the one you have happy, I just wanna make sure it's what I'm picturing, as I'm sure Landon would totally dig this. Thanks!

I hate Halloween: I seriously do. It's a pain in my ass more than anything. Honestly, I never really enjoyed it as a child either. Probably because I am an only child and didn't have siblings to share the fun of trick or treating with. Seriously, it's a pain..we've gotta come up with a better plan next year. This drving all over hells half acre to my family's houses pulling the kids out, praying Reece doesn't fall asleep in route, putting their top part of their costumes back on...yeah, not my idea of good times. Not to mention, Landon refused to put his costume on for a good 45 mins. which delayed our departure time even more from my parents house. Then trying to please everyone by stopping by...ughh!!! Sorry for the vent girls, but really, I'm over it! ;)

[tgr68]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Happy1~If he's been pretty happy lately, let's make the trade! ;) DH says I'll get my clingy kid with this one and be begging for a few moments to myself.

jrdhbunny~I am the same way with my MIL. I love her, but there are just times I want to scream at some of the stuff she does! Congrats on your girl! Very pretty name you have picked out!

Christmas~I have had a list going for a while. I just need to get it emailed to family now, but I'm putting that off until we find out what this baby is. I have some clothes from ON, some Disney Princess items, and a few "big kid" toys since we'll be pulling some of DD's toys out of her room for the new baby. I did ask for a couple more things for her BGR - a toy organizer and a blanket for her bed (have a comforter but need a blanket as well for when it gets really cold). When I asked her if there was anything I should add to her list, she quickly responded with "Cinderella computer"! :eek:

Disney~Obviously not jrdhbunny here, but from what I understand Guinevere means "fair, smooth" and Eileen means "desired" (Behind the Name (http://www.behindthename.com)). BabyNameNetwork (http://www.babynamenetwork.com) has the meanings as "fair & soft" and "light of the sun". Jennifer is a modern form of Guinevere.

Rancherswife~Ugh! Sorry about the rough night.

Not much going on here. I'm too lazy to post them, but I upload pics (http://www.dropshots.com/tgr68) from the last several days ealier this evening.

[jmvan74]

Happy: Glad to hear the trampoline is a hit. I am really leaning toward getting one. Perfect for winter time energy.

Rancher: Sorry you had a rough night. We never even made it out the door. :rolleyes: Collin ran away from his costumes like the plague.

[Mrs.Chappy]

dropping a quick post here

Holidays: i just received an email from amazon so i made a wishlist that i'll give to my parents and DH's family. We do hanukkah and they do x-mas so its tons of gifts and DS gets spoiled. I'd rather they spend the $$ than us so we try to do something simple. That said, this year we are getting him big boy furniture...he really needs a bookshelf!

[alienhost]

Anyone know if they make Toddler jewlry like necklases, watches, ect.

I'm not sure if they make specific toddler appropriate jewlery but just watch out for kids costume jewelry, a lot of it has been recalled for lead content these days (metal charms etc.). Just an FYI

ranchers sorry halloween was so rough for you!

halloween night we had a blast. All 4 grandparents came over for pizza and they stayed back to hand out candy. I had a whopping 18-20 kids, which is good for us. DD had a blast, even wore the costume and hood the whole time. It was so cute hearing her say "trick or treat, happy halloween". We drove to see a friend and DH's cousin and then went to about 8-10 houses in the neighborhood. Unfortuntately she got a lot of peanut candies (she's PN allergic) but I substituted some other stuff she seemed happy with.

holiday gifts two months ago I swore I wasn't buying anything since my "gift closet" is full of stuff I got on super clearance last year but I've still picked up some things:

-Fisher Price Digital Camera - i heard the quality isn't that good but she loves pretending to take pics with the phone
-Dora lego set I got from Pampers Gifts to Grow
-a wooden toaster and coffee pot I bought last year
- wooden food sets I've gathered throughout the year
- PBK cash register I bought last year
- puzzles

My ILs are getting her a baby doll. I requested some playdoh tools and books. I'm trying not to go overboard but it's hard. She doesn't even ask for things but I want to get things for her when I see something I know she will love. It's crazy. But if I have too much I'll save some for her b'day.

[ahavnes]

I'm with rancherswife,Halloween was a total PITA this year. Abbey didn't nap at school, so she was a bear when I picked her up at 5:30. She ended up falling asleep in her high chair at 6:15 while she was eating, so I called our friends and cancelled. Naturally, she woke up at 7:30 and was ready to "twick or treeeeet." Hmph. :cool: We managed to get in about 5 houses before people started turning their lights off. Boy did that make her mad! Oh well.

[rancherswife]

So glad to see I'm not the only one who had a fantastic Halloween!!!
I feel bad because It's all about the kids, but damn, it's really not a fun time.lol

[usafwife]

Hi ladies. Had surgery 2 wks ago and got the stitches out/bandages off earlier today. Got another bandage but at least it can now get wet but I can't soak it in water for another week. So DH is still on dish duty which he wasn't too happy about. ;) It's still on the tender/sore side and doc said it would remain that way for up to 3 months.

I've got a major decision to make and it's one that I'm struggling having to make. It certainly wasn't something that I was thinking of having to make just yet. Based on the results though there aren't too many options. I certainly hope next year is better.

DD was a horse and DS was a lion for Halloween. We really only went to 4 houses (and two of them were grandparents). Next year we may only go to a few places or go much earlier. The crowds were so bad in one area....the parents parked along both sides of the street and left it nearly impossible to be able to get one lane let alone two lanes down the street and they just walked out in the street and didn't bother to look to see if cars were coming. And then there were many teenagers who were too old to go out to get the candy. That's too old in my opinion and one of the reasons I don't give out candy (not that we live in an area where we get kids). It just got to be a headache one year when each knock was a teenager. If you are that desperate for candy go buy a bag at the store.

jrdh ~ Congrats on the little girl!!!

Aunt Liv ~ Congrats on the new arrival!

Christmas ~ I haven't given it too much thought just yet but know that I need to. Especially since my left hand will probably have surgery in December. At this point I'm just hoping to be able to be well enough to decorate the tree and wrap a few presents though the wrapping may fall to DH this year.

[DisneyGirl]

Halloween...does your town have a set time for trick or treating? We could only go out from 6pm-8pm only. ETA: we handed out candy for the last hr and went though 102 big bars of kit kats I bought at costco.

rancher I too find halloween to be a PITA and and I too don't really like it.

[psusna]

Christmas: Easel (Ikea) with supplies (from MIL/FIL), trucks and one of those rugs with streets on it, floor puzzles, pattern blocks, fisher price garage thing (MIL/FIL), fire house with trucks (my parents but not sure where they got it from -- not the PBK one), fisher price camera, lots of books. DH wants to get him a kitchen set. I'm eh on it b/c I hate that the wood ones cost so much. I'd rather just buy us a good Energy Star dishwasher and let him play with that :)

Halloween: OVER RATED! He liked dressing up as a cowboy but sat on the porch and handed out candy to the big kids. Fine by me! He had more fun wearing his costume to school.

Meri: Speedy recovery vibes for you!

jrdh: Congratulations on the little girl!

Hi to everyone else. Hope you are doing well!!!

[cynder]

Halloween was kind of bust for us. Of the two costumes I got, I was able to cajole him into the fireman jacket but only because it was chilly outside. I don't think he really got what was really going on, though he did learn candy after 2 years! Last year seemed a lot easier and next year I am sending DH out with DS.

[Sasha]

Well we had great success on Halloween getting Sarah into her costume and she loved trick or treating. However last night we had a Halloween party to attend and she wanted nothing to do with putting her ladybug costume on at all. Screamed bloody murder when we tried to put her in it. Suffice it to say, she was the only child there not in costume, and about halfway through it she wanted to put it on. Good thing I brought it along, just in case that scenario happened. ;)

Disney - I have never heard of a town setting times for trick or treating, that is bizarre to me.

[jmvan74]

Halloween...does your town have a set time for trick or treating? We could only go out from 6pm-8pm only.


Same thing here. I'm happy for it. This way we have time to eat before handing out candy and I don't have to worry about teenagers banging on my door at 9pm. :D

[alienhost]

usafwife I hope you are doing OK after surgery.

TOT time we don't have a set time. It starts when it gets dark and I turn out the light around 9 but our last ones showed up around 8:30.

I'm surprised so many people don't enjoy Halloween! I really had a good time this year. Here are the pumpkins I carved:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/1830028017_fd4131195b.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2146/1830891160_8c8ec1a02a.jpg?v=0
My sister carved a giant zucchini into a crocodile that was found when I cleared out my veggie garden.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2127/1830101597_60cf262ce5.jpg?v=0
The owls eyes glowed at night. DD really enjoyed the pumpkins. The owls are Martha Stewart's idea and we watched a show with her carving pumpkins. When she first saw the finished Owl she exclaimed, "just like Martha!". ;)

[Ferris]

Alien Those pumpkins are so cute and creative!!

Halloween Our town has a Halloween trick or treat at all the business and we went to about 10 of those and then the kids and adults had enough. We went back to our house and the trick or treaters came around 6, we ended up having about 200+ kids. We went through about 500 pieces of candy!! The joys of living in a neighborhood that is a giant loop, with sidewalks and street lamps! We turned out the lights out at around 9 when we took Douglas to bed and people were still ringing the doorbell, even with the lights out! The last one I heard was a 9:30!! :eek:

[tgr68]

Halloween Day/Night~We had a great time as well! Our local paper takes pictures of all the kids in costume for the next week's edition, so we did that first thing in the morning. After that we headed to see s/mom, dad, and MIL at work to show off her costume. Then went to lunch with MIL and one of her employees. When we got home, we put DD down for a nap and took a couple of hours to kick back and relax ourselves. DD slept in pretty late, so it was after 5pm before we got started. We first went to Sonic because they were handing out free hot dogs and ice cream to anyone in costume. Then one of the local churches sponsored "Trunk or Treat" where many of their members lined up cars and you could walk car to car to get candy. We wrapped up the night by dropping in at g-gma's house and my parents house and then handing out candy at ILs.

http://media4.dropshots.com/photos/32398/20071031/222940.jpg

Christmas~Okay, I've pretty much decided to leave the gift giving up to our families as far as DDs gift goes. Christmas morning our gift will be to unveil her Princess BGR. She's already found her bedding, etc. and we've told her that she will get it soon. Beyond that, she doesn't know when, and I figured that would give us time to paint and redecorate the room for her.

Alien~Those are awesome pumpkins! :eek:

[kimthebride]

Halloween Timeframe
No timeframes around here. NJ is all about getting free candy from morning to night. ;)

Halloween For Us
Looooong story, but in short
- New costume didn't fit, wore last years to daycare after 3 change attempts
- HATED new new-costume, refused to eat, TorT, lots of drama...tried something different & hated that too
- Neighbor bribed with a $1 bill, he threw on last year's costumem again and ran from door to door for an hour shocking us both with how well he did on all those stairs, with other older rowdy kids and past his bedtime

Christmas
We're moving to the new house 2 weeks before Xmas, so that's the "big gift" LOL. Since we've been aching for neighborhoody-type toys for him for so long, we've been eyeing a Kettrike for him. I picked him up a remotee control police car that I saw on sale. We'll keep it fairly light. Maybe something Little People...and DH has wanted to get him a cool train for around the tree.

We're actually having our very 1st Xmas in our own home this year! DH & I have been together for 7 years and have NEVER been on our own for a holiday - its fly here/drive 4 hours there to see both families who are out of state. This is a pretty huge deal, and honestly I will miss some of the loud family-ness but am excited about having DS wake up to run down to the tree and see what Santa left. :)

Argh crying baby.....hope everyone is doing well I am TRYING to read along when I can!

[DisneyGirl]

Halloween Timeframe
No timeframes around here. NJ is all about getting free candy from morning to night. ;)
[B]


Where about in NJ do you live?(is that where your new house is located?)

[jrdhbunny]

Thanks for the compliments on our name!

disney- tgr got it right; Guinevere is an older form of Jennifer. It really doesn't have any significance for us (meaning it's not a family name or anything), DH has just always loved it. Eileen is my mom's name.

usafwife- Hope things get better for you! Lots of healing vibes headed your way!

alien- Wonderful pumpkins!

Halloween- DS' cold just got worse so no TOT for us- we didn't even put his costume on when my ILs dropped by with his basket. :o We got, get this, a grand total of three groups of kids. :eek:

Adorable pics everyone! Keep 'em coming!
Here's James (from his photo session):
http://media5.dropshots.com/photos/178389/20071103/173753.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/)

[alienhost]

thanks for the kind words on the pumpkins :)

costumed kids cute pics everyone, keep them coming! I'm sorry to hear more of you had ToT Drama!

here's my little monkey, loving the ToT experience. She's asked every morning since Halloween to ToT:

EDITED TO REMOVE PIC

kim that's great that you will be in your own house Christmas day!

Ferris 200+ kids? That's crazy! we were lucky to get 18-20 kids!

[DisneyGirl]

disney- tgr got it right; Guinevere is an older form of Jennifer. It really doesn't have any significance for us (meaning it's not a family name or anything), DH has just always loved it. Eileen is my mom's name.



I was pretty sure that the name you chose ment Jennifer. I thought I remember my Mom sometime ago telling me thats what she was going to name me, but she ultimatly decieded on Jennifer instead.

[kimthebride]

disney
Sorry, still not leaving north jersey! I'm right outside Manhattan now, and will just go about 30 minutes in once we move (Union Cty). i have a hard time being away from the city, lol.

[rancherswife]

jrdh: Very cute pic., but seriously...he looks SOOOO old. What happened to his baby face??? So cute! :)

alien: Nice pumpkins...I'm so impressed. I suck at carving.lol Yeah, I'm pretty much a Party Pooper when it comes to Hallween, I guess! ;)

[DisneyGirl]

disney
Sorry, still not leaving north jersey! I'm right outside Manhattan now, and will just go about 30 minutes in once we move (Union Cty). i have a hard time being away from the city, lol.


I went to college in union. Its so expensive to live in NJ!!

[kimthebride]

I went to college in union. Its so expensive to live in NJ!!
Hell to the yeah it is, LOL!

[Sasha]

Aw, adorable Halloween photos, everyone! :)

PT'ing question - for those with kids who are 100% trained, how did you get them to understand not to poop in their underwear? Sarah is totally pee trained but is not picking up the whole poop thing at all. Do you have any idea how many pairs of underwear I threw away this weekend!? In 3 weeks of underwear, she has only had 3 pee accidents but I have lost count of poop accidents over the past few days! She always tells me after she has gone.

[alienhost]

where is everyone? It's lonely in here!

PTing can't really help there since DD still has no interest. WTH? She woke up dry twice last week in the AM but I couldn't convince her to sit on the potty. Then she started peeing in the tub one night and freaked out, stopped it but wouldn't sit on the potty. I bet once I put her diaper on she went.

[jmvan74]

Love all the Halloween pics!

PTing: No advice from over here. We started the whole PT thing, and then Collin decided "no thank you." I really hope to start hardcore after the holidays. I'm tired of changing poopy diapers.

Collin is getting over a bout of croup. It's been a rough couple of days, but he is finally feeling a little better and getting some rest. Luckily, Brady has not contracted it.

[tgr68]

Kim~Yay for your first holiday in your own home!!

jrdhbunny~Such an adorable pic!

Alien~Adorable little monkey! Mine has asked every day about ToTing as well. We took her to take Christmas pics today and the only way to get her to smile was to have her say "ToT"! LOL!

Sasha~I know this doesn't help, but I honestly can't remember exactly how we got her to poop on the potty. She really liked being a "big girl", so I think that helped with things. I know we always described her pants as being "yucky" and explained that babies poop in their pants but not big girls.

Julie~Glad Brady hasn't gotten croup. How are you feeling? Hope Collin continues to get better.

Today was my big u/s!!! :D The u/s tech said she thought everything looked good, but she'd have to have the OB take a look at the screen shots and have her confirm it. She got a picture of the kidneys, bladder, all 4 chambers of the heart, very clear spine, etc. Then, the money shots, and...

IT'S A BOY!!!

After the u/s, we were supposed to go into an exam room, where my OB would listen to the h/b on the doppler and measure me. Then I was going to discuss VBAC possibilities in detail with her, but she was called away to the hospital. A patient of hers needed an emergency c/s over at the hospital. I told the nurse to put it on my chart as a discussion point for my next appt.

[Dreshny]

Yay, Naamah for a boy! I know how badly you wanted one! :D

[Mrs.Chappy]

congrat Naamah..

[Ferris]

Yay, Naamah for a boy! I know how badly you wanted one! :D

I second that!! :) Congrats on your boy! :)

[kelseyledare]

Congrats, Naamah, on your baby boy!

[alienhost]

tgr Congrats on your boy!

jmvan sorry to hear about croup, I hope he gets better soon and Brady doesn't get it.

colds again DD has another stuffy nose, DH just got over pneumonia last week. I just kicked a month long cough. Will this household ever get healthly?

[Sasha]

tgr - Congrats on your boy!!

Alien - Sorry you're going through a round of illness again. Both Sarah and I are starting to get colds, so I'm sure we're in for it in our house too.

[jmvan74]

Congrats on the boy, Naamah!

Thanks, alien. We seem to have a continuous cycle of colds going on in our house as well. I hope this is not the way the winter is going to go. Hope everyone is well at your house soon.

[cynder]

WOOT! Congrats Naamah on your boy!

Get better, alien and family and jmvan and family!

[psusna]

Huge congratulations to Nammah!!! Boys are the so much fun!!!

Sending get well vibes to all of the sickies and kids of sickies. I'll now wash my screen down with Purell :)

Happy Wednesday!

[tgr68]

Thank you all for the congrats!! DH and I are thrilled to be having a boy this time!

Dreshny & Ferris~Thank you both! I don't know how to descibe the feeling when my gut instinct was confirmed - relief maybe. I would've been okay with having another girl, but it was almost a clamness that came over me when the tech said boy.

Sick Kids~Sending ~*~*~*GET WELL VIBES*~*~*~ to each of your households!

[DisneyGirl]

tgr Congrats on your BOY! Any idea of what you will be naming him?
I'm so glad to see you are getting the boy you wanted. When I was PG with my DD I would seriously pray at night that she would be a girl. I would have gone off the deep end if she would been a boy. Then when I got PG with #3 I really really wanted a another boy and thankfully I did.

[happy1nuv]

Sick Kids~I'm also sending ~*~*~*GET WELL VIBES*~*~*~ to each of your households!

tgr - congrats on your boy!

[tgr68]

Disney~DH and I do have a name for him, but we are keeping it quiet (which is what we did with DDs name). I have prayed since before we conceived this baby that it was a boy. The June mommies know this already, but at first I was absolutely crushed when I found out DD was a girl. Now, I couldn't imagine life without her. She has been such a blessing in mine and DH's lives!

Names~Since some have asked, here's where we are on a name. We have one picked out, but we are keeping it quiet until he is born (which is what we did with DD). What I can tell you is that it is Celtic, has a strong meaning, and is unique but still pronounceable, all important factors in our choosing it.

[rancherswife]

Congrats again, tgr!!! So excited for you! :) Boys are awesome!!! But then again, I don't know any different. lol

sickies: hope you all start feeling better soon!

Landon's attending his first movie in the theatre this afternoon, wish me luck. I'm not so sure he's ready for this, but...we'll see! ;)

[happy1nuv]

Forgot to post before...
My boys made it into the paper!http://jacksontimes.micromediapubs.com/news/2007/1102/Front_Page/001p3_lg.jpg Not the best photo, but... :)
We did the township safe trick or treat thing...which was a disaster! I loaded the kids up in the car, tooled around the parking lot forever to get a spot, got the kids into their costumes and headed in - only for Nic to become super cling the first time someone said "it's elmo!" (Note: if you have a shy child, do NOT dress them like a popular kids character. animals are safer...MUCH safer!) ... So, we went in and made it to the first 2 stations (only because they were handing it out as we walked by -- the next one we actually would have had to go IN to an office... not happening. We went in to the magic show (they had rotating entertainment - a magic show, kids singer, etc. ) ... where we sat for about 5 min before both kids started having fits... As we were walking out, a reporter for the local paper stopped us and asked if he could photograph the kids... and that's how my boys made their first newspaper article! ;)

Oh...and ranchers...this is the trampoline we have (we have the one that folds away, but we NEVER put it away...total waste of about 40.00... my advice - go for the cheaper one that doesn't fold down!)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31D4TY3D03L._SS500_.jpg
:)

[alienhost]

thanks for the "get better wishes". I hope we aren't sick through December!

happy1 what a cute picture!

[rancherswife]

Thanks happy! That's GOTTA be a good choice for a x-mas gift w/ out having to worry about lead and any other toxin that they're finding in EVERY freakin' toy on the market right? ;) Cute pics. btw!

[IrishEyes]

Naamah - congrats on the boy! They are fun!

Sick kids - sending healing wishes to all of you, and putting a force field on my computer to prevent the germs from coming our way!

Adjustment to winter - Ugh, seems like the cold, dry weather hit here fast and hard. I am having a hard time adjusting. I put the humidifiers out in our bedrooms, which does help, but man, I'm still feeling it!

[allyray231]

sending get better vibes!!

It is cold here that is for sure!

[jmvan74]

I hear ya on the cold, Irish! We're not far from you and it's like we went from 70 to 40! Brrrr.... I need to go pick up a winter coat for Collin.

Thanks for the get better wishes! It looks like we are all on the mend! Thank Goodness! It has been a long miserable week.

Cute pics, happy.

[happy1nuv]

add me to the list of sick kiddos. nic has been bouncing around - we've had a GREAT day today... i just picked him up and he's really hot ...temp of 100.3 ...i sat him on the couch with some juice... to see if it is a true temp or if its just from running around... argh!

[usafwife]

The June mommies know this already, but at first I was absolutely crushed when I found out DD was a girl. Now, I couldn't imagine life without her. She has been such a blessing in mine and DH's lives!

Naamah ~ I remember how crushed you were when you found out you were having a girl. So glad that you get your little boy this time. Congratulations!!

psusna ~ Thanks.

alien ~ Thanks. My hand is doing better. No numbness and no severe pain just soreness and I can live with that. Working on strengthing my grip and muscles again now. Love the pumpkins especially the owl.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm having surgery on Monday. It's really the best thing but it still isn't an easy thing to do. I just feel like I'm losing a part of myself.

Who all is on LJ ~ I know I have some of you added as friends and I'd like to add more. I'm usafwife7503 there.

[kimthebride]

tgr
Congrats on baby BLUE! :)

usawife
Good luck on your surgery, I hope it goes smoothly.

Winter Sucks
Blaaaah! DD's got all these dry patches on her back already and the 4 of us fell sick over the past 2 days. How much longer til Spring??

Sooooo crazy over in these parts. Too tired to discuss. zzzzz....

[ahavnes]

usawife-Good luck on the surgery. Maybe I missed it, but what type of surgery are you having? Is it another hand surgery? Either way, I will keep you in my thoughts on Monday.

tgr- Congrats on your healthy baby.

[tgr68]

Rancherswife~Thanks!

Happy1~Cute photo!

Irish~Thanks!

Winter~It got really cold here for several days out of nowhere!! Today was beautiful though - mid-60's & sunny! I'm hoping that this nice fall weather hangs around for a little while before going cold again!

Sick Kiddos~This is insane! DD hasn't been acting normal, but she hasn't devleoped a fever or anything. :confused: I'm praying she isn't coming down with something. I hope everyone else's kids are feeling better!

Meri~Thanks! I hope your surgery goes well!

Kim~Thanks!

Alicia~Thanks!

Not much going on here. We had our families over for dinner tonight, and I've been busy getting ready for my business's annual holiday open house. Plus, sometime this weekend, I've got to find time to make another batch of frosting and bake a cake for class Monday night.

[Jessiesmama]

Hi everyone! I kind of dropped off the face of the earth in my early pregnancy. I felt like garbage for the first 11 weeks and then DD got a cold/virus that has lasted over 3 weeks (sneezing, stuffy, cough) - I think I've been fighting some version of it for the past 2. Good times. I’m now just about 14 weeks and feeling a bit better.

Halloween was a bust for us. We had big plans but because of DD’s cold we stayed local. She felt icky but wanted so badly to trick-or-treat so I took her to the mall where they hand out candy in each store. After that, I took her to my mom’s for a nap and when she woke up she felt even worse – so home we went. She never got to TOT with the kids.

Sleeping – or lack there of
DD’s sleeping has really been crap. The last few weeks she’s been waking most nights. I’m too tired to stand in her room and get her back to sleep on her own so I bring her in my bed which is probably not the smartest – but it’s all I can do right now. Anyone else having night wakings?

Tgr68
Congrats on your baby boy!!!

[DisneyGirl]

X-mas gift I just went out and bought Nikki the fisher price twin dollhouse an my Gosh..by the time I bought all the rooms , people and of course the house my bill was like 215.00. I probably should have thought more about x-mas in october when the rooms were buy 1 get 1 free at TRU..
Plus I still want to buy her a few other things as well and that lovely trampoline that Happy posted. GESHHHH

[kelseyledare]

Disney- ugh, don't remind me! How did I not know about the BOGO free at TRU in October? I so want that house for Ava and of course, I (selfishly) want all the furniture, too.

[usafwife]

kim ~ Thank you.

Alicia ~ Thank you. No, it's female related this time (hysterectomy due to horrible heavy bleeding). The other hand is probably going to be done in December.

Naamah ~ Thanks. Didn't it get really cold there for a few days?! I had to dig out all the winter items. I so wasn't expecting that. I'd like for the fall temps to stick around before we get the full brunt of winter. But I hear we have a chance of snow the week following Thanksgiving. I hope it isn't like last year at the end of November/first of December when we got over a foot of snow. Are you taking a cake decorating class? Through the college?

Jessiemama ~ Glad you are starting to feel better. Hope it continues. Did I tell you congrats? If not, sorry and please accept my apologizes. Hope your little one is feeling better soon. No fun to have a sick little one (had one this weekend).

Disney ~ DD would absolutely love a dollhouse but I think we are going to get her a kitchen, play food, and an artist easel. Or at least that is the plan right now and subject to change. I'd like to wait until we can get the downstairs playroom done before getting a dollhouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll talk to everyone in a few days. :waves:

[alienhost]

usafwife thinking of you today. I hope your surgery goes well.

jessiesmama I'm glad you are feeling a bit better, sorry to hear DD is sick. take care of yourselves!

[allyray231]

usafwife thinking of you today.

[DisneyGirl]

Disney ~ DD would absolutely love a dollhouse but I think we are going to get her a kitchen, play food, and an artist easel. Or at least that is the plan right now and subject to change. I'd like to wait until we can get the downstairs playroom done before getting a dollhouse.


I also bought her a kitchen and right now I am in the process of trying to find play food and pots/ pans.

Hope surgery goes well.


Mini trampoline Can someone tell me where I can buy one. I know Nikki would love one. THANKS!

[rancherswife]

Thinking of you today, usafwife!!!

disney: Not sure, but I'd like to find out too! :)

[Sasha]

usafwife - Hope all went well today.

Hope all the sickies are feeling better. Both Sarah and I have been battling the beginning of a cold for days now, hopefully it never turns into anything full-fledged!

[ahavnes]

I hope the sickies are better soon too! :) Abbey is one of them...:o

[jmvan74]

Meri: Hope everything goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

mini trampoline: Amazon has a couple of different ones. I think we are going to get this one...
http://www.amazon.com/Kid-Riffic-Kid%252dRiffic-Jump-Smart/dp/B000ETRFRS/ref=pd_bbs_5/104-2127098-7665514?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1194908810&sr=8-5

[kelseyledare]

Meri ~ Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Sorry to hear of all the sickies- wishing them a speedy recovery as well!

[DisneyGirl]

JMVAN I was looking into that one and it seems like the best option for me. Does it seem really small to you though. Thats one reason why I have not ordered it.

[tgr68]

Jessiesmama~Thanks! I hope you are feeling better.

Meri~Yeah, it was frigid here for about 2-3 days, then warmed back up. I am taking the classes at Celebrations over in P. I'm really hoping we don't get the crazy weather we had last year and the beginning of this year. I hated having the snow off and on from November to April! :( I hope all went well today!

Ugh!!! I'm absolutely exhasted! I had a really good day today but so tiring. DD and I stayed at my parents last night since DH was out of town. She had a bad dream and woke me up around 3:30 and then I woke up needing to pee at 5:30. She decided to get up for the day around 7am. This is the child that ALWAYS lets us sleep in until at least 8:30. (Yes, we really are that spoiled. :o)

After class, we went to ILs house to eat the cake I made tonight. Then I opened gifts - Pecan Passion 3-in-1 from Bath & Body Works, a really pretty but simple necklace, a set of gold cladaugh earrings, and a $150 gift card to Motherhood Maternity! :eek:

Now, I am off to bed to try to get a good nights sleep! Nightie night!

[christy1010]

tgr Congratulations on your boy!

usawife Hope your surgery went well!

I hope all the sickies get well! I think this must be the first time that Sarah is not amoung the sickies. Anyone's child still struggling with the time change? Or can the kids still go through periods where they need lots of sleep because of growth spurts?

Busy, busy week here with appointments for Sarah and meeting for mom after work, hoping it settles down for the Holidays!

[happy1nuv]

trampoline - we got ours off ebay - saved us a bunch compared to amazon... the triangle one might be a bit better... when we have lil friends over, they inevitably jump 2x2...

usa - thinking of you...

nancy & kim - so nice to hang...we def should do that again - jan maybe?... :)

[jmvan74]

JMVAN I was looking into that one and it seems like the best option for me. Does it seem really small to you though. Thats one reason why I have not ordered it.

I think the picture makes it look smaller than it is. Personally, I don't have too much extra space, so small isn't necessarily bad, ya know. Plus, it does have an 80lb weight limit, so it should be useful for quite some time to come. ;)

[tgr68]

Hey gals!! Needing some fashion help here (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37941)!

[Ferris]

Naamah Happy b-day yesterday!! :)

Scooter My DS can't reach the peddles on most bikes (he had the family trait of short legs and long torso) and we saw this in the parenting mag. Does anyone have one or heard about these?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41hFCuTt1XL._SS260_.jpg

[psusna]

Christy: DS is still all wonky from DST. He is getting up at 5 a.m. and has been since the switch. The fact that his internal clock is off has also upset the cart with PTing, believe it or not. He was holding it all night up until DST and how he's wet when he wakes in the morning. I hate DST. As for sleeping=growth spurt -- I totally buy into that. DS always sleeps a LOT when he's growing. I'm talking like 12hours at night and a 3-4 hour nap.

Meri: Thinking of you...

Ferris: Love you avatar! J was a cowboy this year too. Hope you are feeling well!!

[christy1010]

psuna Glad to know that I am not the only one dealing with bad sleeping. Sarah used to be a great sleeper. I think I have only had one decent night of sleep since Sept. 7th.

I have two questions one about potty training and the other about tantrums.
PTing For those of you who have been PTing what were some signs. Sarah has been taking off her diaper and talking a lot about Poop. Could this be a sign she may be ready?

Tantrums Sarah is really good in the morning about holding my had as we walk in the parking lot from the car into daycare. After work and when I pick her up and in public places is another story. Sarah will let go of my hand and lie down in the parking lot. Any suggestions on how to not let this happen?

Sarah's doctor wanted to see her this month for a weight check. She is now 27lb. 1oz which is in the 25% the heighest she has ever been on the growth chart. Doctor was very pleased with her weight gain. She is also now 33 inches. I think though she may be going through another growth spurt as she is has slept past 7am the last two nights.

[alienhost]

usafwife I hope you are recovering well!

sickies I hope everyone is getting better!

sleep woes we have it here too. DD hasn't had a good nap in 2 days. I hope it's b/c she fell asleep both times in the car for 20 minutes before lunch. Both times she went in the crib, was quiet for like 45 minutes then screamed bloody murder to get out. She was napping 2-3 hours! I hope she isn't giving it up! Last night she was so tired that we put her to bed at 7. She woke up at 11 coughing and I went in to lie down with her. She was wide awake and kept waking me up "mama wake up". She was up until after 2 - maybe snoozing in between. Not sure. It's 8:30 now and she's still aslseep.

christy no good advice on the tantrums, just sympathy!

[Sasha]

Ferris - My stepmother was just talking about buying a scooter like that for Sarah for Hanukkah. I don't have any input since we don't have it yet, but she said she sees a lot of young children on them.

Christy - We also run into the problem of not holding hands in public places. As long as she nicely walks alongside me, I let it go (obviously I'm not referring to walking across a street, just in Target or something). If she runs off, she gets a warning, and if she does it again, then she either goes in a cart (if there is one) or we leave if she is causing a scene. My best solution, however, is just to avoid shopping with (my) Sarah as much as possible. :o ;) As for PT'ing, it sounds like she may be showing some signs and it couldn't hurt to try and get her to use it.

tgr - No time to go to the MM website right now, but I would think a few pairs of jeans, cords, long sleeves t's and some sweaters would be needed. Happy belated birthday!

[ahavnes]

Walking in Public- This is a major problem for us as well. I usually tell Abbey before we even get out of the car that she has 2 choices: she can hold my hand or I will carry her. Period. I end up carrying her half the time b/c she gets mad and lays down on the street. :rolleyes: She is so independent sometimes!

[rancherswife]

ferris: I just mentioned yesterday that I wanted to get Landon a scooter. That one looks cool. I love the Radio Flyer stuff. I'll have to check into that one. I think they would like the scooter.

tgr: Happy Belated B-day!!!

walking: HA! I rarely attempt it with Landon. He's either in the cart w/ Reece in the bjorn or in the double stroller. The other day, my mom and I were shopping and I just stuck Reece in my single stroller since Landon said he wanted to "walk and hold Nonni's hand!" so, I said, fine, since I did have my mom with me and she could help wrangle him if neccessary. Good.LORD!!! Never again, he acted a FOOL in Children's Place, hiding in racks, to where all I could see were his little brown converse at the bottom, he thought he was so funny. Ughh!!! So, no, Landon does very little walking! ;)

[happy1nuv]

I'm just starting to let nic walk, and he's doing really well with it! (totally jinxing myself here) ... BUT, one thing i've found is that if i make a game of it (walk on this white line, balance on the curb, walk three times around the flower bed if it has a "balance beam" like thing around it... nic will willingly walk holding my hand. I try and give him a lil freedom places it won't matter (like walking in the mall or grocery store) and that seems to make him a lil more eager to hold my hand when i say he has to... however, if i know he's tired or extra cranky, i just pick him up and we go home... even if i have to stuff a limp, screaming body into the car...
:)

[DisneyGirl]

Walking I can actually say that neither of my kids run away from me thank goodness. If I tell them to walk next to me in a parlking lot or just the mall they stay right next to me and never vear off. Nikki is so strong willed and very very rarely follows any rules however that one she manages to follow.

[jrdhbunny]

Meri- Hope your recovery is going smoothly. Thinking about you...

tgr- Happy belated birthday!

Walking- Hit or miss, but I'll take it since it always used to be miss.

Scooter- MIL got DS a Hot Wheels one for Christmas, but I managed to talk her into holding off until his birthday in April. For one, I think he's still too small (nervous nelly, that's me!!:o) and two, the weather will most likely be too bad for him to get any use out of it until at least March.

[kimthebride]

Potty Training: HELP!
I am no genius, but I think that the following means DS has decided he is ready for PTing:
1. Sudden dislike of the adjustable tabs on his diapers, constantly fiddling with them
2. Stripping naked on a regular basis
3. Taking off his pants & diaper to pee on the livingroom rug, then FREAKING OUT when I try to put a fresh diaper on him
:rolleyes:

So rather than let DD crawl on a pee-soaked carpet or deal with the threat of poop on it when the buyers could come any time to measure or have contractors come in.....can you ladies please help me out?

What potty should I buy?
Do I buy pull-ups now, and if so what brand?
Anything else I need to buy?

I have zero time and energy to deal with this, since I have him in daycare 3 mornings a week during which I shuttle DD around on errands for the new house, plus speech therapy 1x a week, not to mention that we leave for Thanksgiving next week and then we close on the house...so I am also packing the whole apartment on my own because DHs work is awful right now.

So...um....if someone could just give me a quick shopping list and tips I would really really super-ultra-mega appreciate it. :o

(oh, and I am still trying to read along, but will do better about so's once we're in the house and I can breathe again)

[happy1nuv]

kim - we're not pt'ing yet, but we do have a potty..we got the bjorn potty - very simple, all white plastic. 2 pieces. easy to clean, and won't smell like pee over time like some of the others (at least, according to the reviews i read) ... the way we're going to pt (when i can wrap my head around it) is to just put him in big boy underwear one day (potty train in a day book method)...if he's into thomas the train - target has them (at least, they did a few months ago)

[kelseyledare]

Kim, I'd also recommend the Bjorn potty- very easy to use and clean while very toddler friendly and comfortable. This would be my list:

- reward stickers of DC's interest
- Bjorn potty
- Chlorox wipes- very convenient to wipe out bowl after rinsing
- flushable toddler wipes for BMs- cleans up better than TP
- Pull-Ups (I actually like the Pampers brand better than Huggies)
- toddler books for reading on the throne

I'd probably go with the Pull-Ups vs. straight underwear route if you're doing daycare. At least ours wanted to get the child into the potty routine before switching to underwear. And actually, they were the ones encouraging us to make the switch when she was ready- we were too nervous. Just listening to the hectic nature of your schedule, Pull-Ups provide a little extra protection and convenience- like you're out at Target, he has an accident, but at least you're not cleaning up the floor, changing his clothes, apologizing everywhere... just changing a Pull-up.

Of course, this is just my opinion. I'm sure others will have difference suggestions!

[diedra1027]

Kim - I'm on my way out the door, but the first thing I started doing with Avery when she would strip naked and pee/poo on the floor was tell her that taking her clothes off means she is telling me that she needs to sit on the potty. At the time, she hated the potty seat, so that stopped her from stripping. Now, however, it's been pretty useful as she associates taking her clothes off with sitting on the toilet. She'll pretty much go no problem as soon as she gets her clothes off.

Finding a good reward system has been working well for us too. Avery loves bubble baths, so I have a star chart set up and once she fills the chart with stars, one star for pee and two for poop, she gets to take a bubble bath. I currently have it setup that it takes her about a week to earn the bubbles. Beyond the actual seat (we have the Graco one), I highly recommend the clorox wipes ;).

[tgr68]

Kim~I would get a toddler sized seat for each of your full-sized toilets and either a toddler sized potty for the room T spends the most time in or a stool for the big toilets. Since you are working on selling your place and don't want the carpets messed up, I would try pull ups. As soon as you get moved, I'd completely switch him to underwear. (For the record, I am ONLY suggesting pull-ups for a very short time because of the house situation.) Lastly, as others have mentioned, find a reward system that works for T. My DD loved M&Ms and since we never gave her candy, it worked like a charm! You might check the Potty Learning (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2140) thread for more ideas.

[kimthebride]

You guys are great!
Bedtime is in 13 minutes (yes, I watch the clock ;) ) and then I'm off to Target to shop.

After I posted earlier I stepped out of the room for MAYBE 3 minutes...came back in and he was naked, clothes & diaper cast aside and a tidy little poop on the chair. Nice!

[usafwife]

Hi ladies!

I'm getting around slowly. Monday was not good. Surgery was about 3 1/2 hours long. Waiting on the path reports. They found a cyst on one of my ovaries that they took care of. Hopefully it won't be anything but we have a baseline u/s to compare to should I start having more problems.

My left side is still hurting. I'm hoping it gets better sooner rather than later.

[cynder]

usawife Hope your recover gets better.

Kimthebride Totally clueless on PTing but we have the Baby bjorn potty and it seems to be okay. Just can't get DS to go in it. I would even suggest getting two for the house so you can have one on each level.

walking Not an issue anymore. I worked HARD on this because I was tired of rescheduling my errands and I have left many a place. He's no angel but we're good 95% of the time.

Christy At the end of a daycare, they are so tired and wound up so I am sure that is part of it. I would talk about parking lot safety. Show her the cars coming and talk about how hand holding will keep her safe. They are at the age that if you keep talking about, they'll get it. Took us awhile but DS is all about safety...now.

BTW ladies, found out that I am having a GIRL! Totally not prepared but very excited.

[allyray231]

PT we have the baby bjorn too but we are far from hard core PT

walking He is SOO good about this. Either holds my hand or the site of the stroller

[psusna]

Cynder: Awww...congrats on your little girl!!

[diedra1027]

Walking - A few months ago we were at a very busy Lowe's. I was putting Ian in the Bjorn while Avery stood next to me. Blake forgot something in the car when he walked off to go get it Avery started to run after him. It was one of those heart dropping moments, I had no chance of physically stopping her with Ian in my arms. I let out one of those "Mom Yells" and I think I may have scarred her for life :o. She stopped dead in her tracks, but now is terrified to even let her feet touch the ground in parking lots. When I do have to set her down, I have to reassure her that a car can not get her and even then she'll cling on to my leg for dear life.

Once we get in the store or to the sidewalk she's ok.

[jmvan74]

Meri: Wishing you a speedy recovery. I hope the aches and pains subside soon.

Cynder: Congrats on finding out it's a Girl!

Walking: I'd say Collin does well walking with me 80% of the time. It took several trips for him to understand that a parking lot is dangerous and he has to hold my hand. Now, he tells me "hold hands, it's dangerous." Once we are in the store he does okay. A lot of the time he wants to get in the cart and that is fine with me. I just stick him in the back, since Brady has the seat.

[Ferris]

psusna I was surprised I didn't see to many cowboy costumes this year! DS and my nephew were the only ones we saw!! I feeling okay, I am already 22w! Times is flying.

cyder Congrats on a girl!! :)

Walking Douglas does really well walking, but he knows that he has to hold a hand! If he wants to walk and doesn't hold a hand he knows that he's right into a cart, stroller or picked up.

Meri Glad to hear that you are doing okay!!

[Sasha]

Bumping us up to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving! We are driving to Tampa tomorrow morning to spend the holiday with my father and stepmom. I hope everyone has a great holiday!

usafwife - Hope the recovery is going well.

[tgr68]

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!! :D

[Chylynn]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[christy1010]

Cynder Congratulations on your girl!

usawife I hope your recovery is going well and you are able to enjoy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

[jmvan74]

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

[psusna]

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here is what DS said each evening since Saturday when asked what he's thankful for (we go around the dinner table then write each thing on a construction paper leaf, and DS tapes it to a construction paper tree creating a thankful tree): my mommy and my daddy (aaaaaaahhhhhhh!), my puppy, Playball (his gymclass at school), fire trucks, play-doh. Can't wait to see what he comes up with tomorrow.......

[kimthebride]

Gooble Gobble - Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

[alienhost]

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[usafwife]

Thanks for the recovery vibes. I appreciate it. The soreness/pain is getting better everyday. Still have some bruises but pretty good for almost 2 wks post op.

T-day was pretty good even if our first plans fell through then found out on Wednesday that they were still having it but never told us. Nice. We scambled to find another place to go and even gave the turkey DH won to his stepmom since she was sure we'd another one (DH's grandparents already had one that she was cooking). We get there for dinner and she sits her but down at the table while DH and I get to sit on the sofa and use the coffee table for our plates. Nice since sitting like that and having to bend over is still uncomfortable for me. She never even once asked how I was feeling. In fact she hardly said a word to me. Before dinner (which was suppose to be at 1 they weren't there so we didn't end up getting to eat until almost 2) we found out that DH's stepsister, her two kids, and their dog were coming. DH's grandma doesn't like the dog and had to have it in the house last year at Christmas. It was a total mess and the dog went to the bathroom several places in the house. That's also when the big mess started with the Christmas presents that her (stepMIL) kids got (apparently the limit got raised and she didn't bother to tell anyone but her girls). We all (DH's grandparents, one brother and us all) decided that we weren't doing the gift exchange this year because of what happened last year.

Then the real kicker comes....after dinner she loads up the turkey and takes it home with her. She didn't bother to leave us any. Nice since it wasn't her turkey and I would have appreciated having some of it since one of them was ours. No wonder she asked for another turkey...heck yeah she'll take free food. She didn't even bother to leave DH's grandparents much turkey either and the other turkey was theirs. I decided after that I've spent my last holiday with her. And I darn sure won't be donating another turkey for her to cook and then take home. I would have had my mom cook it had I known that is what she was going to do. :mad:

Hope the rest of you had a better one than that.

DS ~ We had to take him to get bloodwork done just before Turkey day as he has an appt this week and they wanted it back before the appt. He's still having problems going to the bathroom. It makes me cry when tries. Guess we'll see what the tests show.

walking ~ She does pretty good as long as it isn't near naptime. Then it's a total meltdown. She's usually pretty good at wanting to help push the basket or help put things in the cart so that's her job. If she decides that isn't want she wants to do she gets to ride in the cart. And we've also found out that she does even better when it's just one-on-one so sometimes it's just her daddy that run to the store/errand. She used to be bad about wanting to run around once out of the van but she's doing better. I have a fear of her running out in front of a car and getting hit. That's also why I don't go places with both of them because I can't hold onto her hand plus get DS out of the carseat. DH won't get DD out until I (or my mom if she's with us) am there to hold onto her hand.

cynder ~ Congrats on the little girl!!!

[rancherswife]

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!

Ours was nice. :)

hitting: OK, I'm totally annoyed. Landon was quite the hitter around this time last year, we dealt with it, and all of a sudden, it stopped months ago. It's been so nice. Well, apparently that "phase" is back! wtf? Is anyone else dealing with hitting again/still???

[jmvan74]

Meri: Sorry it was a rough one. Hope Alex's bloodwork looks okay.

hitting: We have that going on over here. Collin hits me, DH and his brother. It is so frustrating. No advice, just sympathy.:(

[allyray231]

Hope eveyone had a good thanksgiving!

Meri-hope DS bloodwork comes out ok!

[Sasha]

Hope everyone had good Thanksgivings! Of course Sarah refused to even touch any of the T-giving food and happily munched on chicken nuggets instead. :rolleyes:

Hitting - We don't deal with hitting too much, but we do have a big spitting problem. Her version of spitting is just blowing air through your lips, kind of like a imitating a horse, but her intent is to spit at you. We've been doing TOs and have seen a little progress.

[DisneyGirl]

Hitting Oh please ..I hope the hitting phase does not come here. I have enough problems with her and her strong willed high strung additude thats all I need her to start doing is hitting..Gosh, that would really set me off.

I stated Nikki in gymnastics and she LOVES it!! She is doing really well and her instuctor is just so impressed with all the things can do. I was really unsure if she would take to it since the only thing she seems to have interest in is her 8 pursed, my nail polish and my darn lip gloss I bought from VS. My Dh says theres no dought we have a "girlie girl on our hands". HAHAHA

[ahavnes]

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Ours was nice and low-key. Ahhh. :)

Hitting-Yes, occasionally, but only DH and I. She thinks it's hilarious, even when we put her in TO. :rolleyes:

[kimthebride]

Hitting
Oh how frustrating jmvan, hopefully it passes soon.
DS doesn't hit much, but when he does its Time Out...which he's not a fan of. I just hate hitting, so I can guess how upsetting it must be if its all the time. Sorry!

disney
How cuuuuute!
DH now brings DS to Little Gym on Saturday mornings for "Guy Time" and its so cute. :) I love the bonding that happens now at this age.

sasha
At least she ate MEAT....I spent hours last-minute prepping a Thanksgiving Dinner (more on that later :rolleyes: ) and as I was grabbing the camera to take a pic, T had snuck into the kitchen, snatched a box of COOKIES and managed to stuff a bunch in his mouth. Yeah, not so thankful for my cooking this year......lol

Thanksgiving
It was interesting, and I *may* win the Most Dramatic Award. Here we go:
So you all know we normally fly out to visit the ILs every holiday, well this one was no different ever though we close on the new house this week.
Well we've all been ill with a cold for about 3+ weeks now, and have been to the Ped's for both kids, but particularly DS's rash (which was simply caused by the cold).
Well Tuesday DD had a fever in the morning, so I figured I'd take BOTH kids to the Ped's after DS's daycare 'just to be sure' asince we flew out the next day.
Well, in short:
- Both kids were more ill than we thought: EI, eye infection, sinisitus
- We had to cancel the trip, since flying would be too painful for them & the Ped wanted to keep them close by
- Wednesday DD had a 104.5 fever and wasn't eating, so the Ped had me take her to the ER
- Thanksgiving was spent counting wet diapers and force-feeding DD to prevent dehydration and yet another trip to the ER (we stayed *just* under the radar, luckily), and trying to get DS to take his sinus Rx (good times, all around).

I managed to grocery-shop last minute and made a little dinner just for us, which was interesting considering most of my kitchen is packed up, I HATE turkey, have never cooked a turkey, and there are boxes & bubble-wrapped furniture all in our living space making it tricky to seat us 4 at the table.

And as I said above, DS managed to finagle a box of cookies to the table so didn't eat anything i made. Awesome!

Then the next day DD awoke with a bad rash, so back to the ped's we went...and she may have an antibiotic allergy. Super!

But at least since we were stuck home I got more packing done....my only highlight!

Next! :cool:

[tgr68]

Thanksgiving~We spent Thursday with the ILs. It was nothing fancy, just a turkey lunch on styrofoam plates (so no one would have to do dishes) and then naps/boardgames/football. In the evening, we watched Hairspray and called it a night.

Black Friday~DH and I pretty much stayed home. We did venture out for a short time to pick up some lights and pink decorations (DDs request) for our Christmas tree. We tested the lights and put them, garland, and a star on the tree.

Saturday~All three of us worked on puting bulbs and a few ornaments on the tree. DD's favorite part was throwing icicles on it. She literally threw handfuls of the stuff on the bottoms limbs, and DH and I took them from her piles to even them out over the whole thing. ;) After finishing up the decorating, we went to my parent's house for a potato soup lunch. Then we took the afternoon to play billards and board games. S/mom ran to town briefly and brought me back a sleeping child and a peppermint mocha from Starbucks! Mmmmm! We cooked out hotdogs for dinner and then watched the KU vs. Mizzou game while we played Phase 10. Overall it was a very nice time, but we were exhausted by the time we got home around midnight! :eek:

Wow! I didn't mean for that to be quite so long. :o

Meri~Hope your recovery continues to go well! I hope DS's bloodwork comes back with some answers.

Hitting~Luckily none here - except when she gets her princess wand in hand. Then she's beating everybody in the room with it. :rolleyes:

Disney~I'm glad she is enjoying her gymnastics class so well!

Kim~What a crazy weekend!! I hope the kiddos are on the mend!

Last night, DH and I got NO sleep. He was up from 1:30am on with severe tooth pain, and I started a lovely little puke-fest around 3:30am. I got in about a 15 minute nap while DD watched Beauty and the Beast this morning, so I'm feeling okay. I'll definately lay down though while she's down for a nap. DH went to the dentist this morning and turns out his tooth is infected (a tooth that shouldn't have even survived the last 7 years, but has done well until this past Saturday), so he will be going back next Monday to have it pulled. :) Ick! Fun times!

I hope everyone else is doing well.

[alienhost]

Of course Sarah refused to even touch any of the T-giving food and happily munched on chicken nuggets instead. :rolleyes:

I can beat that, my DD ate cranberry sauce (at least it was homemade) and green beans. She wanted nothing to do with the turkey/potatoes/stuffing etc. She did eat pita bread/hummus, chips, olives and whatever else was on the appetizer/munchie table . I should have taken a pic of her plate with the pile of cranberry and green beans.

usafwife I'm sorry your T-Day was such a drama, but I'm glad your recovery is going well and I hope DS' bloodwork comes back fine.

cynder congrats on finding out you are having a girl, they are so much fun

kim sorry to hear about your T-Day too, I hope everyone is getting better

Black Friday Eventhough I said I wasn't going out, I went out at 6AM. DD was up thanksgiving night from 2AM to 5AM - I think she was overloaded on sugar from the cranberries. :confused: I laid down in her room and she stayed in the crib talking/singing/reading while I tried to snooze. She slept to 10AM that mornign. nuts!

hitting usually DD is oK in this deparment but sometimes if you get close in her face she will smack you.

[jrdhbunny]

kim- Oh no!! Sick kiddos are bad enough, but it especially stinks when it's during a holiday! Hope they're both feeling better!

meri- Ugh- so sorry for the drama! Hope DS is ok!

tgr- Ouch!! I have always had problems with my teeth so I can sympathize.

Disney- So glad Nikki likes gymnastics!

hitting- DS is actually getting better (knock on wood), but he does tend to use some of his toys like battering rams.

Thanksgiving Eating- J still won't eat real food; he was too wound up to sit at the table anyway. It was all I could do to get him to eat some soup later. I did break one of my rules which is no dessert without dinner- it just seemed too cruel with all of the sweets around.
We did have a nice time even though DS didn't nap. I ate way too much- can't wait to weigh in tomorrow at the OB. :rolleyes:

Black Friday- I went; it's tradition to go with my MIL and SIL. Had a great time, but I was exhausted by the time I got home (6 am til 2:30 pm will do that!).

[DisneyGirl]

black friday I went out by myself and was able to find some great deals on some of the toys the kids were asking for. I waited in line at Toys R Us for 1 hr and 15 min...It was NUTS in there!

[IrishEyes]

Thanksgiving eating - at least your kids ate something! Mine seems to be in the middle of a hunger strike. I can think of 3 reasonable things I can get him to eat. Other than that, sometimes he'll only eat cookies or crackers or chips. His mommy's homemade lasagna? Nope! Turkey and mashed potatoes? Nope! Right now he's eating one good meal a day, and that's it. This is the one place right now I am so frustrated.

Black Friday - nope, not me, but we did get the biggest gift out of the way on Sunday. Costco had their train table $30 off, so we got that.

tgr68 - I can sympathize on the teeth, since I just went to the dentist for the first time in 8 years and may need a root canal. I guess I shouldn't wait until a tooth hurts to see a dentist.

kimthebride - you get the award for Thanksgiving nightmare! Brody was sick on the holiday too, but nothing like that!

[kimthebride]

Black Friday
We're usually at the ILs and MIL forces us out (I don't know what's scarier, BF itself or being out there with MIL! ;) ). Since we were home, I locked myself in a closet just to be safe from errant shoppers :p .
However.....DH decided to see it for himself. he did't believe me about "Door Busters" at 4am and how INSANE people get...he took DS out and within an hour called me at home: he witnessed a women jump out of her car and start BEATING on the window of the other car that took her spot in the parking lot at a the mall. LMAO! His first Black Friday Brawl...

Good Eating (not)
For whatever reason, DS is totally into Green Giant Peas in Light Butter Sauce (frozen section). He has had entire meals out of them. Its wierd, but heck at least its a veggie, right...?

[Dreshny]

Thanksgiving: Asher ate olives, onion dip with a spoon, and chocolate. At least I know it's pretty normal for a 2 1/2-year-old, right?

[happy1nuv]

Ha... Nic ate the dip with celery - but only ate the dip. I will say, he didn't double dip, but he left a pile of messy, chewed on, licked off celery pieces behind... :) It was quite attractive...

Thanksgiving was good...we did the parade/brunch at my parents, then went to the il's for dinner - which was good til dessert when both children melted down and we left mid-present opening (we were celebrating my nieces bday). The next day we hung out at my parents which was totally nice, since my relatives from ny were in town and we just chilled, played board games, etc. SOOOO nice and relaxing (we used to go out...but i said NO WAY with two kids in tow - had to draw the line somewhere, yanno?!... )

Both my boys have colds/coughs. They are just not leaving...they're happy, no fevers...just a snotty nose and a cough (although its messing with their sleeping somewhat)... i really dont want to take them to the ped for *just* a cold, but... when does it cross the line from being just a cold to being something else?

[Sasha]

I can beat that, my DD ate cranberry sauce (at least it was homemade) and green beans. She wanted nothing to do with the turkey/potatoes/stuffing etc. She did eat pita bread/hummus, chips, olives and whatever else was on the appetizer/munchie table . I should have taken a pic of her plate with the pile of cranberry and green beans.

Well at least she ate something that was Thanksgiving related!! I'm telling you, Sarah ate chicken nuggets and tater tots, which I don't believe were part of the Pilgrims first Thanksgiving! :p

Black Friday - Short a giving away a new car, I don't think there is much that would get me out at a mall that day. A few years back, I worked at a PR firm and one of my clients was a major mall company. So obviously Black Friday was a big deal to them, to get the media at their malls for the stories. That year, I was thankful for being out of town for the holiday and making my co-workers go to 3 malls in my place on BF!

[DisneyGirl]

Thanksgiving: Asher ate olives, onion dip with a spoon, and chocolate. At least I know it's pretty normal for a 2 1/2-year-old, right?

OH, YUMMY! :D

black friday I went past Best Buy at pm Thrusday and there was already 30 people already inline for the door busters..CRAZZZYYY :eek:

[psusna]

Night Waking Help!!!

When DS moved into his BBB he was wonderful -- never got out, never banged on the wall (1 side of his bed is next to the wall), never cried. Since this fall (late Augustish) it's become a NIGHTMARE!! He is out of bed at least once/night, he is banging the wall when too lazy to get out of bed, etc. We've tried CIO, we've tried stickers, we've even tried candy. Some (like the candy) provide short-term results but nothing is working. DH is ready to go bonkers. I'm not sure what caused this change, but if we ask him why he's out he says "scared of (insert something)" because he knows that works on us. We've tried giving him an extra puppy in bed, leaving an extra light on, telling him he can just roll over and go back to sleep, or lay quietly, etc.

I'm open to any and all advice, tips and solutions. I will not lock his door (because one night he came over he really DID need us -- he had gotten sick in bed), so anything other than that I'm open to trying :)

Hope everyone is doing well and the RO's are feeling great!

[kimthebride]

i really dont want to take them to the ped for *just* a cold, but... when does it cross the line from being just a cold to being something else?
For us, we knew it changed into something worse because:
- sleep was disrupted both day & night
- fevers started (even mild ones)
- rash developed
- attitudes/energy changed

[usafwife]

Thanks, ladies. We are currently awaiting a peds GI referral and appt. I'm starting to wonder if he doesn't have the disease that he was tested for a couple of months ago. His blood work came back normal with the exception of one liver enzyme which was 2 pts above the high level but doc isn't that concerned about it...said he'd be more worried about it if were higher but 2 pts isn't that much of a cause for concern. His lead levels came back at 2 which he said were mildly elevated for someone his age but they don't treat it until it gets to be over 10. Not exactly sure why it's that high because I routinely check the toys against the recall list. His thyroid was in the normal range and another level was elevated but he said that is always high in young children due to their bones growing. It's just not normal for a child to be in such agony to go to the bathroom (extremely rigid, scream in pain/agony, get extremely red all over). It makes me heart break when he attempts to go to the bathroom. It's either extremely runny (on meds daily and still screams) or hard, large, and like clay and goes days (upwards of 5 or more) between stools.

And to add insult on to an already full plate my SIL decided not to send DD back with everything we sent her with. They were suppose to be coming back last weekend and were going to bring her clothes back. Well they decided not to come back and never bothered to return a call or answer their phones. DH and his brother were suppose to do some work around our house (it was the 3rd time they'd agreed to help but the previous times they never showed up). So when I asked SIL about it I had to wait almost 3 days for a response. She tells me that she mailed the clothes but I've yet to see them. I ask her about the sippy cup we sent her with and she informs me that she kept it and sent the one home she had bought. She figured we could use that one with DS.....ummmmm, let's think about this for a minute. It's pink and purple so DH would never allow me to use it for DS not to mention it's not even the same size cup as she claims. I measured it up against the other cup that came with ours. Then when I ask why they didn't bother to answer or return DH's calls she says that she thought he understood that they may not be able to come back. Uh, that's not what you said when we picked DD up and cancelled our plans to go to your house. Whatever. Then when I tell her that we are putting up our tree this weekend and that our friend will help when he and his family are back at the end of the month she informs me that we need to wait until after the weekend of the 8th and 9th to put it up since they are planning to be back then and help with the project. Planning is the key word there. That will be the 4th time we've made plans to do the project. I wasn't happy about being told I couldn't put up my tree until then. That leaves 2 wks that the tree will be up for Christmas. I want my tree up longer as I totally enjoy the lights and ornaments. Plus now with the problems with DS I don't even know that we'll be around then. And that's the likely week I'll be having my left hand operated on unless things change concerning something with DS.

IrishEyes ~ I can relate to a child not wanting to eat either. It's a constant struggle to get DD to get much of anything lately. DH fixed a plate for her on T-day and she ate nothing of it. She then asked for a hot dog and then refused to eat it. Later on that night she did eat some turkey and noodles when DH had some more.

Black Friday ~ I was actually feeling pretty good and we decided to go for a little while. We got a few things that we weren't even considering but did get the V-Smile game system and the laptop at a good deal. And then we got DS' winter coat at half price which was totally something we weren't expecting to get. So most of the Christmas items are bought with the exception of a few smaller things for DD and a little more for DS. I'm tempted to wait til the after Christmas sales to get his birthday items but fear there won't be anything left on the shelves. I know my mom has said in the past that she had by my birthday presents when she bought Christmas presents because nothing was on the shelves afterwards. And I remember it being totally bare last year after Christmas.

[IrishEyes]

Meri - So sorry to hear they still haven't figured what's going on with DS. That sounds like an unusual set of test results and symptoms. What disease did they test him for? And yowsers, your SIL sounds... bizarre? Not to mention unreliable. Sorry about that drama! On top of your thanksgiving drama!

Good to hear my kid isn't the only one with the food battles. I'm trying to tell DH we're not the only ones.

[psusna]

We took DS to see The Laurie Berkner Band today. I highly recommend the show, especially for those of you in the North East as she rarely leaves that area for a show. We got lucky that she came to Atlanta for one show this weekend. It was an hour and 20 minutes of non stop singing -- seriously, I don't know how she doesn't pass out from exhaustion. She's a singing/dancing machine! DS has a huge crush on Laurie so this made his weekend :) He was transfixed the entire time.

Meri: Sending positive thoughts and lots of prayers to you and your family.

[Chylynn]

Meri -thinking of your family.

I just wanted to pop in to let you all know that Target has a childs trampaline for pretty cheap this week and they are offering it at free shipping!

We just ordered it and it was $38.15 with tax included. I found a 10% off code to use with it TGAFL72X, plus I went in under our upromise account and 5% of the purchase went to our account:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41-%2BqaYNkPL._SS260_.jpg

Reviews are pretty good! Thought I would share since I know a lot of you are planning on purchasing one for the holidays.

[rancherswife]

chylynn: I was JUST going to order that trampoline for my wild man, hoping that he can jump out some of that energy that he has! ;) Thanks for the code! :)

Thanksgiving: Our Thanksgiving was good. Landon (who is normally a great eater) ate ambrosia and umm...maybe a roll, yeah, he was totally into it!lol He was more interested in playing with all of his cousins, so we all got tired of fighting them to eat and set them free from the table and let them play while we ate. Reece did enjoy his first taste of mashed potatoes though! :)

sick kids: Both of mine are sick with colds and coughs. It's good times around here, Landon's is already making it's way to his chest. yay!

[ahavnes]

Santa Question-For those of you that talk about Santa at home...is anyone else seriously considering NOT doing the whole "pictures with Santa" thing? Abbey is getting really excited about Christmas, but she totally shuts down when we talk about Santa. She seems afraid of him already, which is strange b/c we didn't even attempt pictures last year and she likes Santa books. :confused: Anywho, I would love to have a picture, but I also don't want to scar her for life, KWIM?

[alienhost]

Santa Well I already scared her last year....I tried again this year when it was quiet at the Mall (November, if you can believe it) and as soon as she saw him, from a distance, she freaked out. I had to get her out of there she was making such a scene, screaming "I want to go home". The funny thing was this year she talked about it the whole car ride, seeing santa giving him a picture she drew and everything but when it came down to it she freaked.

Last year's pic was so crazy that I submitted it to a "Scared of Santa" contest. Here's the picture: . Truthfully though, once she got off his lap and into her stroller last year she was fine.

yeah I'm a mean mom ;)

[jmvan74]

chylynn: I just got that same trampoline in the mail today. Unfortunately, I ordered it last week from another site, so I paid about $15 more than that. :(

Santa: I'm SO nervous about it. Collin freaked last year. Anytime I ask him if he wants Santa to bring him new toys, he says "no, no thank you." What to do? what to do?

Rancher: Sorry the boys are sick. We've got it going on here, too. I feel like we are in a vicious cycle.

[DisneyGirl]

Rancher I was just coming on here to see where you been..I don;t recall you posting in here lately. Sorry the boys are sick, hopefully it will pass soon.

Santa Noway, would Nikki go anywhere near santa or anyone that is dressed up. If they are in the same time zone as her she freaks out.

[rancherswife]

disney: Thanks for thinkin' of me girl. I've been MIA the last few weeks, trying to get x-mas shopping done...then on Saturday morning we discovered our pump/well had gone out (the SAME thing happened last year, the week of x-mas) so we had to stay the weekend at my parents until it was fixed. Such a pain. We're home now so I'll have more time (time...HA! I can dream right? ;)) How are you?

santa: lol, funny we should talk about santa in here. we've been prepping him for santa doing the whole "he's watching you, you need to be a good boy and be nice to Reece if you want him to come visit you, etc." so, now when he gets in trouble, before I even mention santa landon says "i don't like santa!" *sigh* i don't know what i'm gonna do with that kid! he's very into singing "santa clause is coming to town" and i really hadn't thought about him getting scared of santa this year, we've taken him every year w/ his cousin madison and she's always been the screamer, last year, once she started crying he did too. we're suppose to go on thursday...i'll let ya know how it goes!lol

jmvan: yeah it sucks, as i know you know. i hope your boys are on the mend soon. :)

[IrishEyes]

Santa - I think we'll wait another year. As it is, I'm afraid of the holiday picture session this weekend. Brody screamed at the photographer and I haven't taken him back for pictures the whole year. I've started reading him Christmas books, and he likes the animated Grinch show and Christmas lights, but haven't really explained who Santa is yet.

[allyray231]

Santa We went to see Santa and we ready holiday books and we love Charlie Brown Christmas. But he doesn't really get who Santa is

[Sasha]

Chylynn or jmvan - Any chance that thing folds up somehow? I would love to get it for Sarah but I seriously have no clue where I would put it in my totally maxed out townhouse.

Santa - We were at the mall about 2 weeks ago and saw him there. She watched with some interest but didn't want to get too close. I didn't push it. She sat on Santa's lap last year with no problem, but there were no photos involved, I don't know how she would do with a photographer. But she does seem pretty into Santa, always pointing his picture out to me. So I'm undecided, but leaning towards skipping it this year (yes, I am Jewish, but DH is Catholic, and what can I say, who can say no to Santa :o )

[Chylynn]

Sasha -No, it does not fold up. :( I am now trying to figure out where I will be putting ours as well! I'm thinking her kangaroo climber will be heading outdoors. :)

Santa -Ok, my DD is the odd ball! She loves Santa and has already had two pictures taken with him. She asked him for a "Rebecca Trumpet" because Quincy on Little Einsteins plays a trumpet and she wants her own! So cute. We took DD to Disneyworld Thanksgiving weekend and she got very excited to see him and started waving and blowing kisses to him.

Gifts -
Twin Time dollhouse (BOGO a few months ago, MIL will keep one at her house)family members are giving her the accessories we bought during that sale
Honeybee hop game (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=6006726)
Trumpet from Santa (http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/item/productid/4173/)
Kitchen Helper (http://www.joebrands.com/page/JB/PROD/JBK_TOY_PP_COOKING/GDC_G97325) We wanted one last year, but decided it would take up too much space, but now they are making it so it will fold up. So glad we waited!
and now the trampoline. Gah, where am I going to put that thing??? jmvan how large is it?

[jmvan74]

Chylynn or jmvan - Any chance that thing folds up somehow? I would love to get it for Sarah but I seriously have no clue where I would put it in my totally maxed out townhouse.


Unfortunately it doesn't fold up. :( I haven't put it together yet, so I'm not sure of it's actual size.

[cynder]

Santa DS is really interested in him when he sees in books or pictures. He said he wanted to see Santa so I took him to the mall before it opened to scope it out. Well our display has these automatic skating figures that freaked him out. So I don't going to bother again this year. I am all for Santa but DS doesn't get that Santa means presents so I am going to enjoy that for one more year. Actually people keep asking him what does he want to bring and DS looks confused and say "Christmas trees!"

Ever since my dad's accident 2 years ago, I am consciously trying to de-emphasize the commercial stuff of Xmas. I am all for Santa and lights and gifts but it's been interesting this year now that DS is pretty verbal on how to present Christmas. Last night we started an advent calendar box and of course he wanted to open all the doors!

[Chylynn]

Cynder -OMG, you just reminded me when you mentioned advent calendar box. I was not able to get the Pottery Barn one I really wanted because I refused to pay $99 + shipping for it and DD kept opening the Target doors all the time, so I ended up getting a $1.99 one that has chocolate behind each day figuring once in a while we would give her a piece. What, are we on day 4 of Christmas, right? Well, I hear all livid day long, every day now since Dec 1st "I want Santa Chocolate, Santa Chocolate, Santa Chocolate!" Never, ever again. Ugh.

[kimthebride]

Santa
I find if we don't talk things up, he's cool about them. This is the case with Santa, school, and hopefully moving house (this week!). We mention it from time to time, but we don't make it to be a big deal because I think he gets overwhelmed thinking about it.

There is a great Santa in a mall by us, and though sometimes it can take AGES to get thru the line, its because they take their time to let the kids warm up to him and get a good picture. Pretty much everyone gets a good one in the end.
I stood in line as DH let him stand on the wall and watch the other kids take pictures with him. Then RIGHT before our turn, we were standing to the side and I showed him how after you sit with Santa and "go cheese" he gives you a present for being a good boy. This worked well ;) . I gave Santa a high 5, then he got one from DS, and he slowly warmed up and let Santa help him on his lap. We got a great picture of the 2 kids, and DS got a toy puzzle from Santa plus a lollipop from us.

I love to decorate, but everything's packed since we move this week so I doubt he'll see any decor for another week or so...we'll see what he thinks about it all then. :) honestly I've been too crazed with all this to even think about the holidays!

[DisneyGirl]

Cynder -OMG,so I ended up getting a $1.99 one that has chocolate behind each day figuring once in a while we would give her a piece. What, are we on day 4 of Christmas, right? Well, I hear all livid day long, every day now since Dec 1st "I want Santa Chocolate, Santa Chocolate, Santa Chocolate!" Never, ever again. Ugh.

OMG, I am having the same damn problem..NEVER AGAIN!

[tgr68]

Thank you all for your thoughts for DH. He got the tooth pulled yesterday and has been recouperating very nicely. He's had a little pain, but nothing compared to what he's dealt with the last week.

Eating~DD has always been a good eater, but out of nowhere (I blame it on holidays with the ILs), she wants nothing but sweets! :mad: Grrrrr! I about have to force feed her fruits and veggies and ultimately bribe her with a cookie or something if she eats X amount. Otherwise she wants to make a meal of cookies or candy.

psusna~I just read somewhere (I think it was Parents magazine) about giving your kid a "bedroom pass" good for one free get out of bed for whatever - drink, bathroom, hug, story, etc. In order to use their pass, they have to hand it over to you, so it's not available for the rest of the night.

Meri~I hope you are able to find out what's going on with DS.

Ranchers~Hope your boys are on the mend!

Santa~DD hasn't exhibited any Santa fears, but we'll se ehow she does when we actually put her on his lap. ;) She did well with the Santa background during her Christmas pics this year.

Not much going on here. Just trying to keep my energy up to survive the holidays. ;) DD is really enjoying everything Christmas so far!

[cynder]

Chylynn - DS is getting into counting beyond 20 and I am sucker for knickknacks with little doors so I thought it would be a fun thing to do and put some reflective sayings in there for us all to read. Well, I had no time to stuff it with sayings, DS is way more into opening all the doors than the little figures of animals that I put in there and now everyday he asks to "open the toy". Luckily, I put the box on the mantel and I only allow after all of dinner is eaten. But this def. was not one of my brighter ideas.

[happy1nuv]

Christmas is already kicking my butt (kim - moving+christmas =no CLUE how you're doing it) ... hence why im mia, but i am trying to at least follow along with you guys...

trampoline - i wouldn't worry about it folding up -- we have the one that DOES fold, but we NEVER fold it up. Literally - the one day i moved it (its really light) into the dining room to clean around it and forgot to put it back... all i heard was "jump! jjump! juuuummmmpppppp!!!!" ... (yeah, tantrums, gotta love em)

And... I found a GREAT toy! I had a 40% off coupon to AC Moore, so i thought i'd get something thomas to go with his trains this christmas... they stock melissa and doug toys. They make a monster puppet that is totally cool! it's a puppet base, and all the hands/eyes/arms/etc. velcro on... its like a puppet potato head! it's AWESOME!! (yeah, this christmas is all about ME and the toys I want to play with!!!) I was getting worried because he's getting a lot of construction type toys and trains, and no creative type toys... I was sooo happy with this find!! (didn't end up using the coupon since it was already on sale, but i ended up spending $15 on it)...http://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/7/optimized/291157_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=273&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg

[Sasha]

Ok, dinner question here - if/when you eat dinner together as a family, do you have your DC stay with you at the dinner table after they are done eating, but you are not? I ask because my ILs kind of gave us a hard time about it over the weekend while eating dinner at their house. Sarah always finishes before us (probably because she rarely touches her dinner these days :rolleyes: ) and rather than listen to her scream to get out of her booster seat, we let her go and play while we finish eating. My MIL was trying to get her to stay put while we finished our meals and was making little comments about letting her leave the table. Tell me I am not the only one who lets their child leave when they are done, so they can eat in peace? :o

Sasha -No, it does not fold up. I am now trying to figure out where I will be putting ours as well! I'm thinking her kangaroo climber will be heading outdoors.
Bummer....I know Sarah would love that but I really don't think I have a single place to put it. (I am in dire need of a new house!)

happy - Oh that is really cute!

[LIZNKEITH]

Whoa...I've been A.W.O.L. I can't believe how much I've missed. Snowball's chance I'm catching up now so I'm just going to jump right in.

Santa
She's much more excited about meeting him this year and keeps asking me when we're going to go see him (tomorrow). We'll see how she reacts when she's actually face to face with him.

Gifts
We're doing kitchen stuff this year as she has such a great time with the stuff at school. We're getting her the pink KidKraft Retro Kitchen, some Learning Resources Food, an apron set, and some pots and pans. My parents are planning on getting her a baby doll and baby furniture type stuff. You know, the smal cradle, high chair, stroller sets. Hopefully it will help keep her out of DC #2's stuff.

Advent Calendar
LOL...we're having the same issue, Chy. Keith sister in Germany sent her an advent calendar with chocolate in it and she asks for it repeatedly through out the day.

Sasha,
We always make her stay at the table until we're all finished eating. She's normally a picky eater anyway so in doing so I have hope that she'll also eat a little more the longer we keep her there.

[ahavnes]

Santa Update-Well, Abbey and I were at the mall yesterday and we passed by Santa. I made a point of talking about how great he was, didn't it look fun to sit on his lap, etc. She took one look at him and said "NO! Let's go! No like Santa!" Apparently I didn't leave fast enough (she was in the stroller), so she said "I'm not patient Mom, wanna go!" LOL! :p I guess we won't be attempting the photos this year. I am bummed, but I really don't think she'll go within 50 feet of the guy.

Alienhost-Love the picture!

Advent Calendar-We have one, but I haven't unpacked the C-mas stuff yet. (That will come this weekend.) However, after reading your responses, I am not going to be putting it up, lol! We definitely don't need any more tantrums in our home right now. :cool:

Dinner-We let Abbey up after she finishes (she also finishes early). We always tell her that if she wants out, that is fine, but she will not be allowed to hang all over DH and I as we finish our meal (one of her favorite tricks). I might be setting myself up for failure, but I would much rather have her wander around while we eat in peace than listen to her scream at us for 5 minutes while we scarf down our food! :o

[Chylynn]

Dinner -Most of the time, DD stays at the table with us. We give her some toys to play with while we eat, but every once in a while we let her get down and play. Of course, then she says "Mama Play?"

[happy1nuv]

Dinner - Nic can get up when he's done, but he has to play by himself. He HATES this, so he usually stays with us. (now, if my mom can just get on the same page and STOP getting up to play with him when we're over there... :rolleyes:)

Santa - Hmmm, not a chance. I'd love the pic, but my super shy boy...NOT a chance. My mom's work has a costume, so if im feeling adventurous, ill see if we can sneak it and have dh dress up for the pics...

advent calendar - i looked ALL OVER to find one WITHOUT chocolate...my mom finally found a poo one! BUT, it was really hard! Nic looks forward to opening the doors in the morning...

[cynder]

Dinner What is this thing you called "eating together"? Yeah, we're still feeding DS as soon as we get home from day care and then eating later. But when we do eat together, he stays until we are done. If we have guests or a long conversation, we'll let him go. But DS loves to linger in his chair and goof off. Eating is a whole other issue.

[usafwife]

Thanks for the good thoughts, ladies.

DS update ~ We got the appt to the pediatric GI doc but have to wait for about a month and a half. I just hope the weather is good that day as it's at least a 2 1/2 hour drive (probably 3 hours to 3 1/2 hours). In the meantime we have an appt for an echo for a possible heart problem. I swear the hits just coming for us. I seriously hope next year is better.

As an experiment we've started giving him the hypoallergenic formula (at $25+ a can) to see if it helps with things. So far there has been a little improvement so that's a good thing.

Santa ~ We went this past weekend and it was a wonderful (rolleyes) experience. We went to get her some shoes first but the store didn't have anything so then we went to look around the kid's clothes area. She proceeded to have a major meltdown in the store. She only wanted my mom to pick her up and no one else. So once I got her we went outside to sit on one of the benches and have a little talk. She wanted to go see Santa and then waved at him nonstop while we were waiting around. We get ready to go up to sit in the sleigh and all heck breaks lose again. She wouldn't go up for anything. So it was just DS and I in the picture with Santa. DS couldn't quite figure out who the man in the red suit and white stuff all over his face was. He tried to cry a few times but then he stopped. They guy gave us some tips for next year and we will use them.

[allyray231]

usa see if you can get your insurance company to cover the formula. Hang in there!

[Sasha]

Alicia, I knew I would find a kindred spirit in you on the dinner matter! :D

[jrdhbunny]

meri- Hope the new formula continues to help!!

Santa- Santa was never a big deal in our house so I don't really focus on him that much. However, my MIL is very, very into Santa and tells James all the time that "Ho Ho" is always watching him and won't bring him his presents if he's a bad boy. I have mixed feelings about this- on one hand, it can be useful during this season (if used sparingly), but on the other hand, I'd rather him think Santa is a jolly old guy that loves him no matter what- I just want to downplay Santa's importance and I don't want Christmas to be about Santa bringing presents. Anyway, last year's Santa pic was a disaster, but this year he's definitely more open to the idea so we'll see...

Dinner- On the rare occasions we eat at the table as a family, we let him get down when he's done. We get grief about it from my MIL too. :rolleyes: She does have a point though, we are really really bad about eating in the living room. :o

advent calendar- We had a wonderful one growing up- no presents, just cute pictures behind the numbers, but I remember looking so forward to revealing them before bedtime. There's no way we could do chocolate- James has almost as big of a sweet tooth as me and we're trying to curb it. But I think he would really love one like I had as a child; hopefully it's not too late to find one.

[alienhost]

usafwife I hope the new formula helps your DS.

dinner we eat together maybe 4 or 5 out of 7 nights. But she won't always eat what we eat so sometimes she has pasta and veggies while we are eating something else. We try to get her to sit until everyone is done but then DH and I have to rush so sometimes we let her get down and play in the living room.

advent calendar we are doing one and it's going great. It's not a candy one. We put a small item (stickers, ornament for her tree etc) or slip of paper with an activity in each door and she opens it in the evening, usually before bed. There is a great thread in the Nov-Dec Forum about the calendars. She also plays with the doors but doesn't ask for "things" since we have divided it up part activities (pick out a Christmas tree etc) and "stuff".

[cynder]

advent calendar Ok, day three of this and it's going a little better. We are not doing any chocolates. I put little animal and plane figurines from Michael's because I didn't have time to be inventive and DS keeps asking "how does it work". :rolleyes: I do have to say that this has been a good motivator for eating dinner faster!

meri wishes of good health to your family

[Ferris]

Advent Calendar My sister gave me and Douglas one and so far I have only given him 1 days worth. He loves sweets, but I think he was forgotten about the calendar, which means more chocolate for me! :p

Sweet tooth Douglas has a huge sweet tooth and last night I have him 2 animal cookies after we went to the grocery store because he was so good. Well in the car he had a meltdown because he wanted another cookie and when I gave it too him, he freaked out and said "2 cookies mommy, 2 cookies" I told him no and that it was dinner time and he responded with "no dinnertime mommy, its cookietime!!" :p

dinner We eat dinner together everynight. (unless DH has a business dinner). Douglas usually eats slower than we do! Lately I have been telling him that Thomas (the train) eats that and he at least has been trying it!

[DisneyGirl]

Dinner we eat dinner as a family every night and Neither of my kids leave the table until everyone is done.

[allyray231]

Dinner we sit as a family each night. If he is done and we are not he is allowed to go play

[tgr68]

Dinner~We try to eat our evening meal as a family. If she tells us that she is completely finished eating and wants to get down, we usually allow it. If she's just fidgety but has not told us she is done eating, she has to stay put. Once she gets down from dinner, she's not allowed to have anything else.

Advent Calendar~We didn't do one this year, but I did find a really cool book at our local library that had crafts for each day leading up to Christmas. I think the title was "The ADVENTure of Christmas", but I'm not 100% for sure. There were some really cute ideas in it though.

[allyray231]

Dinner~We try to eat our evening meal as a family. If she tells us that she is completely finished eating and wants to get down, we usually allow it. If she's just fidgety but has not told us she is done eating, she has to stay put. Once she gets down from dinner, she's not allowed to have anything else.
.

Ok how do I teach my kid to do this because it NEVER works

[happy1nuv]

ally - if you're talking about how to keep them from eating after dinner if they don't eat dinner... you could try what we do... don't let him nap and then put him to bed as soon as dinner is over :rolleyes: ... otherwise, i have no idea! When nic was going to bed later, he always had a snack after dinner (but it was always a healthy one...)

Speaking of which... I found an AWESOME chocolate cake recipe for those who are having trouble getting their kids to eat healthy stuff. Anyone know what the rules are for posting other peoples recipes? (pm me if you want it til i can find out if i can post or not)... just to give it a write up -- i brought it to my parents for dessert, and everyone liked it. It has beets, zuchini, carrots and NO sugar... (but a LOT of dates) ... (I just told them it was choc cake til AFTER they ate it...and my dad does NOT sugar coat things...)

[LIZNKEITH]

Update from yesterday. We visited Santa and despite how excited she was all week, it was NOT the case as soon as she saw him. She kept saying, "I don't like her!" LOL! Anyway, this is her picture with Santa this year:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2093519042_13fd8f1702.jpg?v=0


Christmas card worthy, no?

[ahavnes]

Holiday Present PSA-I have been struggling with making a decision on what to get DH as a gift from Abbey. I didn't think I could handle doing one of those pottery places with her yet and I'm not creative enough to think of something on my own. ;) I found this at Target yesterday (in the picture frame section.) It's really pretty in real life and was only $20. Plus, you can record a 15-second message on it. I figure I can have Abs say something cute. Scott will love it!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41u4sTP%2BjyL._AA262_.jpg

Liz-Very cute!

[tgr68]

Ally~Basically we just don't give her anything else. If she asks, we remind her that she chose not to eat anymore at dinner. (Usually when she's asking for something else though, it's sweets.) We typically eat dinner around 6pm-7pm, and she goes to bed between 8pm-9pm. So, she's not actually going that long without.

LIZ~Too cute! Her dress is gorgeous!

Alicia~Great gift idea!

[jmvan74]

dinner: We only eat together a few days a week. Collin eats ealier than us, most days. When we do eat together, we let him get up when he's done. It would be more trouble than it's worth to keep my very active kid to still for the length of time it takes for us to eat. :o

[cynder]

Ally Just say no, stand your ground, and prepare your self for some tantrums for a few days. :) It's tough because you feel like you are denying him food but really you are installing good eating habits in the long run.

Liz She looks like such a little lady!

[Dreshny]

Oh, Liz, Santa picture or no, Caroline is such a cute little girl!

[Sasha]

Alicia - What a cute frame.

Liz - She is so cute!

Sarah got her flu shot on Monday afternoon and has been running a 101-102 degree fever ever since, plus developed this horrible hacking cough. She had a fever still this morning, but fingers crossed it hasn't come back since then. She has been in fairly good spirits but has barely eaten all week. And last night was the first night she STTN all week, it has been like the newborn days all over again! She has never had a reaction to a flu shot before, and man, was this a doozy.

[diedra1027]

Dinner - We eat together every night and Avery is required to come to the table with us. We make her stay with us until we're done or mostly done as I'm often feeding Ian at the same time which means I take a long time to finish eating.

We have the same problem with her not eating anything for dinner then demanding something else later. She uses it as a delay tactic to avoid going to bed :rolleyes:. I have a really hard time denying her request since she is so small...to me it's a bonus 200 calories in her for the day (she usually eats a cup of yogurt)! I know it's a bad habit that we need to work on...

Santa - Avery has been excitedly talking about Santa for a while now. I suspect her tune will change when we get there though.

[Ferris]

Santa Douglas did okay with Santa, but it took him a few minutes to warm up. He wouldn't sit on Santa's lap, but he did tell him he wants Thomas coaches for Christmas. I have to say it was the worst Santa in the world! He didn't even have the beard on his face! DH is going to try to photo shop one in to make him look better. Santa also never looked at the camera! :rolleyes: I guess that's what you get for it being free.

http://media4.dropshots.com/photos/292303/20071208/143623.jpg

[happy1nuv]

oy! ferris - that santa is hortible! dont blame him not wanting to sit on santas lap!

we did a train ride with santa... nic did pretty well (i held him, he didnt say a word, but he sorta smiled and wasnt screaming either)... we got one pic (ill upload it later) which would have been good but the lady we asked to take the pic cut dh out :( argh

[allyray231]

OMG Ferris that Santa is so bad!!LOL

[jmvan74]

LOL! Ferris! That Santa takes the cake. I can't get over how grown-up Douglas looks!

Sasha, I hope Sarah is feeling better.

[LIZNKEITH]

I'm sorry, Ferris, but I'm LMAO at that Santa. I can't believe he wasn't wearing his beard. I mean come on...there are only a handful of requirements necessary to be a Santa. And WTF is he wearing under his suit?! I think he's hiding an exercise ball up there! What is it with our group and beloved holiday icons? I still laugh when I think of Naamah's ghetto bunny. :D

Sasha,
How is Sarah feeling?

Thanks for all of the compliments, girls. She's my little dumpling. :)

[jrdhbunny]

Ferris- OMG- that Santa is so. bad. Good for Douglas for being such a trooper!!

Liz- I was thinking of the Ghetto Bunny too. :D And Caroline is such a cutie!!

Sasha- Hope Sarah is feeling better.

[tgr68]

Ferris~I'm sorry you had a craptastic Santa. Hopefully he isn't bad enough to still be discussing a year later like my aforementioned Ghetto Bunny!! ;)

LIZ and jrdhbunny~I'm so going to have to dig out that pic now!! :p

So tired here, but I finally finished up my Christmas cards, packed up a couple of customer orders that have been on hold for about a week now. place a new product order, and caught up online today!

All of that along with worrying about the weather - at least 1/2" of ice and several people from our area without power! Plus, we're supposed to be getting another 1/2" tonight. :eek: Figures all my "honey do" cravings would start hitting in craptastic weather! :rolleyes: Oh well! I hope the rest of you are not experiencing the bad weather we are. Stay safe and warm!

Off to find something for dinner and then upstairs to work on getting stuff switched over to mine and DH's new room!

[DisneyGirl]

Ferris LOL, that santa is sooo GHETTO!

[tgr68]

Ally~Back to your question regarding Aiden wanting to eat after he's been excused from the table, I ran across this thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35158) that might be helpful. (Disclaimer: I haven't read it myself, but the title seemed appropriate to the situation.)

[Ferris]

regardind Santa He was pretty bad. He actually had newspaper crumbled up in his suit!! The people at the museum never even once told him to pull the beard up! :rolleyes: My dad would have been a better Santa!! At least my dad was looking at the camera and he already has a beard!! Throw the hat on him and the suit and he would look 100 times better!!

http://media5.dropshots.com/photos/292303/20071208/144410.jpg

The next shot of the boys I just took it with Santa out of the frame!

LizI was thinking the same thing about Naamah's getto bunny!!

Naamah Is that picture still on your dropshots?

[usafwife]

Naamah ~ Glad to know that you all still have power. We have power as well but it's still nasty out. I know it was drizzling/freezing rain or something earlier. And now I hear that we are supposed to get snow on top of all of this. Lucky us, huh? Stay safe!

Unfortunately we have to be out tomorrow and I just hope the roads are better. I really wanted them to scheduled it for Friday but they wouldn't. Oh well.

DS Update ~ He's got a pretty loud murmur and we are anxiously awaiting the results of the echo. Unfortunately we won't have them for about 7 to 10 days. For as loud as he is it's pathological in nature. Now we just have to wait to find out what. I swear that we definitely in need of some good luck very soon. My poor little boy has been through so much. So now we'll probably be adding a cardiologist visit to our list of docs. As if the ped GI doc wasn't enough.

Need to get the rest of the Christmas cards ready. Most of the presents are bought with the exception of a few small things that we will get later this week. I'm so glad that everything is wrapped and hidden away so little eyes can't find it.

[tgr68]

Ferris~Sadly no. :( I just checked, and it's not there anymore - had to make room for more cuteness! ;)

Meri~Please be safe while you are out running tomorrow!

[LIZNKEITH]

I think we need a whole thread dedicated to Ghetto-fabulous holiday icons. If we have 2 in this group alone, think of the possibilities...

[kelseyledare]

Ferris ~ OMG, I am so laughing at ghetto Santa... He looks like a wino off the street... What's with the beard below his chin? And the white strings trailing out of his crotch in the 2nd photo? I so needed a laugh this morning, too!

Naamah ~ Ah, I miss ole Ghetto Bunny. I bet he and Ferris' Santa are in a bar together, enjoying last call.

[allyray231]

usa-thinking of DS!!

tgr thank you for the thread!!

[Dreshny]

Ferris ~ OMG, I am so laughing at ghetto Santa... He looks like a wino off the street... What's with the beard below his chin? And the white strings trailing out of his crotch in the 2nd photo? I so needed a laugh this morning, too!


I missed the crotch strings until you mentioned them. LOL!