May 09 - Keepin' Cool in July

[~Katie~]

Here's the new thread for the month!

[j_p_i]

I guess we've all been busy with toddlers lately! I know I have been. Olivia has started getting herself out of the bed after naps and when she wakes up in the evening. We have her crib in a sidecar position and our bed is quite low so it's not too scary... but she doesn't even cry out, she just climbs down and wanders into the kitchen or dining room like it's no big deal

She is just learning things in leaps and bounds... which is pretty amazing. This has also come with some tantrum-like stuff, which is new. She is working on communication and I am working on patience! It's getting better, this morning she was hungry and pointed to a picture of corn in her book (we had corn last night) and she did the sign for food. So we went to the fridge and got out leftover corn, and she devoured it!

I know there was more I've been meaning to update, but it's so hot here I can't think! Not many homes have central air in Maine, which makes sense for 90% of the year. However, this other 10% is pretty unbearable! It's 4 degrees warmer INSIDE my house than outside (93 degrees, blah).

Hope everyone is well and staying cool!

[~Katie~]

I hope those who celebrate had a nice 4th!

We're in tantrum zone as well. Communication is so frustrating at this age because they know what they want and are unable to communicate, so crying/whining/screaming is the only way to do it. It does get better in the next few months when their vocabularies improve, and signing does help. Laine is currently in a phase of screaming bloody murder all the time.

In other news, I'm working on PLing with Liam. I really want to get him out of diapers. He's ready and knows all about it but he's hesitant or gets distracted easily. Laine has also taken an interest in the potty and likes to sit on the little potty in the bathroom while I'm in there, so that's a great sign.

We're currently "whatevering" with TTC. I'm done stressing about it or feeling anxious about the decision to, so what will be will be.

Erin - That's some hot weather! It's 92 here currently, I'm certainly grateful for central air. Sounds like it may be time to get an air conditioner!

[j_p_i]

Katie - I think I needed to hear that I'm not the only one in tantrum land right now. Since Olivia is my first, I guess I was surprised when she turned one year old and suddenly there were tantrums! Not full blown ones, but she screeches and stomps her feet when she is frustrated, things like that. I had no idea the best way to handle them, and felt frustrated myself because I know she just wants to communicate her wants and needs. I've read through half of "The No-Cry Discipline Solution" which has helped me normalize and talk Olivia through her frustration, understand discipline is about teaching, etc.

Olivia is also interested in the potty, as my mom got her one recently. She likes to sit on it, she sometimes goes into the bathroom and squats next to her potty and poops (with a diaper on, I haven't been quick enough to get her on the potty yet). We are actively doing any potty learning, more seeing what she does with the potty.

Glad to hear that you aren't stressing regarding TTC, though I hope things work out the way you want for you and your family!

Today is going to be hot again, Olivia has already been naked and playing in the water and it's only 7:30! I just sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and she, the dog and the cats are all splashing around and drinking the water. Yesterday it was only about 40% humidity, today is already 90%! Ugh. Hope everyone else is staying cool! As for me, I'm not going to wear pants for as much of the day as possible

[Comtessa]

Erin, I'm totally feeling you on the heat thing! Our house has A/C but it crashed sometime two summers ago, and we just finally got around to having it fixed on Friday. Neither DH nor I likes A/C much, so we just open all the windows and put fans everywhere when it gets super hot. (And summer in Cleveland can get pretty darn muggy and miserable!) The last couple of weeks, I've had to keep Olive in her diaper all day and carry water in a spray bottle around the house so that I can spray her off every few minutes to keep her cool. It was getting ridiculous, so I finally put my foot down and called an HVAC person to fix it. It took him less than an hour to get it running again. I was feeling a little silly that I took so long to take care of it, but I really didn't think I minded the heat that much. Maybe it's age... or maybe nursing hormones keep my temp elevated more than I realize. Does it work that way??? Anyway, I've found that iced espresso, water in a spray bottle, and wearing a sarong as a dress makes the heat bearable.

[~Katie~]

I checked out the weather up north and it's actually hotter up there than it is here, that almost never happens. Stay cool everyone!

How to talk so kids will listen, and listen so kids will talk is another one of my favorite discipline books. At this age I think it's more about putting a name to what they're feeling and acknowledging their feelings more than anything, making yourself present and letting them express their emotions is about all you can do. In a few months they'll reach another stage where they can understand you better so it does get easier but you're always trading one thing for another it seems. With DS we reached a point of reminding him to use words instead of crying/screaming around age 2 when he had decent communication skills, although he has regressed a bit now that he observes Laine.

As it has often been explained to me "It must be frustrating to be smaller than everyone around you and surrounded by people talking in a foreign language". Their needs are still pretty simple at this age but it's a matter of having to adjust your interpretation skills which can be difficult as you're having to relearn what they're communicating to you, and at this age almost everything seems to frustrate them.

Currently 4DPO. Chart is looking better this month, I think I'll test sometime next week.

[j_p_i]

Comtessa - I have been drinking iced coffee (as well as loads of water) and set Olivia up a little pool on the back porch. We keep filling it with cool water so she can splash around! Glad you got your AC fixed anyway!

Katie - thanks for the book recommendation. I'm feeling like I have a better understanding of how to talk to her when she gets frustrated and the things I can do to help her. We are working on more signs, and I've also been sticking to a better schedule so she knows what to expect when (this is true really just for naps and food). DH just went back to work last week after passing his state nursing boards, so having him home for a couple weeks changed things up a bit. We were on the go a lot and I think Olivia got a little out of sorts. She does fine when we are out and about, then struggles with dinner/end of the day stuff.

Olivia just went down for her second nap today, so I jumped in the shower for a rinse/cool off. Amazing what that can do for my mood! I've been cranky all day, and am feeling much better now!

[Auraji]

It is really really hot here. I'm extremely happy my MIL got us the membership to the aquatic center because I've been going there with Sophia almost everyday. She's so independent when we go. She wants to walk around on her own and try and jump in the deep pool, my mom always said I'd do the exact same thing as a baby and actually jumped in several times. I was swimming perfectly by age 4 and I have a feeling Sophia will be the same, she loves the feeling of being free in the water and always wants to let go of me.

We've actually had less tantrums lately. For example I'm cooking in the kitchen and she insists on going to the litter box. I put the gate so she can't come in the kitchen, she'll whine for a minute and then go to her toy box, grab a book and sit down and "read" it. I'm amazed at how much she can entertain herself, unless she sees me doing something, then she wants to be a part of it. She can play for hours and only requires some direction from me every down and them. She now loves people and has become extremely extroverted, always dances wherever we are. Smiles at people and waves to everyone.

Is anyone else feeling dehydrated? I seem to wake up every morning feeling like I'm gonna die if I don't drink some water? I think is a combination from the heat and the nursing I do at night. Sophia has been sleeping much better though, she also now wakes from her naps, climbs out of bed and looks for me. With no crying, unless she woke up because she's hungry and not because she's done sleeping haha

I'm kinda loving this stage. I feel I can relate so well to her and her personality, she brings me books all day long and sits on my lap for me to read to her. I want to get her a potty too, she takes her diaper off on her own and often I find her dancing around naked haha. I also can always tell when she's gonna poop, but she doesn't like to be put on the toilet. I plan to have a yard sale this weekend and use the money to get some things we need.

Lately Sophia insists on using spoons and forks to feed herself. She's really good with them too, except when it's something like yogurt.

She seems to have figured out what everything is for and puts on my shoes and my necklaces or hangs a bag from her arm, it's like she's a miniature adult. She has started doing the animal sounds an always goes to our cat face and says "meeeeeow".

She's extremely cuddly and loves giving us all hugs. It's the first thing she does when she wakes, hug daddy and hug mommy <3

[cheryllynn]

Hi All -
I have been busy and haven't been around lately. I know I've missed lots on the June thread.

It is warm here as well, but not as warm as out east.

My Olivia has been walking independently for three+ weeks now. She hardly falls at all right now.

She also is showing a temper. Someone asked if she was fussy one evening because she is getting a tooth. I answered, I think she's getting a temper.

And a 13 month old stomping her foot and then both feet was too cute for me. Laughing or smiling while she is angry only gets her more angry. But it was So Cute!

Still only two teeth!

She did her first sign (more) and now we're going to add a few others. We're waiting for eat and drink. I like the idea of adding Please.

She still cries most at night when we try to put her down for bed. She is still a night owl, falling asleep around 10:30 - 11 p.m. And she is a slow waker-upper, just like her parents.

[Novus]

Hello everyone!

Luke is actually getting better with the tantrums, but I've noticed that his ability to communicate with us and to understand what we're saying has increased in leaps and bounds over the past month. Right now, he makes it pretty clear when he wants to nurse, eat, sleep, play with certain toys, read books, go outside, etc, using a combination of words & actions. For example, when he wants to go outside, he'll bring me his shoes and the dog leash. So cute! I counted yesterday and he has about 25 words that he says right now and it seems like he's adding more every day. I'm loving this age!

His latest thing is that when we ask a question, if he doesn't know the answer, he holds his hands out, palms up and shrugs. And he's gotten so cuddly--he gives hugs and kisses all the time and has recently taken to waving to everyone he sees.

He's been having some trouble with sleeping ever since we got back from my mom's house. He's definitely not night-weaned any more and he'll nurse 1-2 times at night, so he's co-sleeping more than he was before we left. I used to be able to pat him back to sleep when he woke up in the middle of the night, but now, he screams bloody murder unless I nurse him, so I've pretty much given up on nightweaning again anytime soon. But he is nursing way less during the day, so I think he really does need more milk at night, especially since he doesn't drink any other milk/milk substitute.

[j_p_i]

They really do so many cute and interesting things at this age don't they? Right now Olivia is "reading" a book to our dog, they are both sitting on his bed, she has her arm up on his back and is "ba ba ba-ing" and turning the pages. So CUTE!

And the cuddles are just the best.

Communication seems to be getting better, though I'm not sure how many words she has. I'll have to try to figure that out today.

I am hoping for a little less heat today, yesterday was just draining! Made for a long night too. I can't seem to figure out Olivia's sleep lately. Sometimes it seems like she nurses all night long, and other nights it's 1-2 times for 5 minutes just to get back to sleep.

Auraji - yes I do feel dehydrated sometimes, but we recently got a water service and that has really encouraged me to drink more water. In the heat yesterday I think I actually drank too much! Probably 10 glasses (about 15 cups??) by the time my DH got home. Normally I drink about 10-12 cups a day, which is the 8 they recommend plus a little extra.

Oh and I've FINALLY reached my pre-baby weight! (Well, what I weighed when I was 6 weeks along. I suspect I gained about 10 lbs just before I got pregnant, but that doesn't count as baby weight!) I feel like my body still looks completely different though. I have lots of toning to do, and of course, I have these giant boobs...

[Comtessa]

Whoa, Novus, your LO has 25 words?!?!?! That's incredible! Olive only has four: "mama," "dada," "hot," and "tickle." I'm not sure why those four were the winners in the baby's first word competition, but they won. Lately when we get into the car after it's been baking in the sun, she'll blink up at me from her carseat and go "HOT!" And I have to agree with her!!! Mostly we try to stay out of the car in the summer.

Though she doesn't have many words, it's been really fun watching her learn to sign. We took a baby signs class for 10 weeks at our local library, and that helped my signing vocabulary enormously. She will consistently sign "music," "light," "cat," "eat," "milk," "book," "tree," and "bird," and throughout the day I try to remember to sign to her about everything else. She fell down and skinned both knees really badly yesterday so now I'm teaching her the sign for "hurt," since she seems highly concerned with the scabs on her knees.

Auraji, I realized too this week that I'm dehydrated a lot of the time. I read a book ages ago called You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty... it's often true! I try to be intentional about drinking water when I feel tired or ill. But nursing makes it really hard to keep hydrated, especially because I swear this child nurses every 2 hours around the clock.

Erin, WAY TO GO losing the baby weight! I lost most of mine within a month... then gained a whole lot of it back. As far as I can reckon, I'm still at about the same weight as I was when I was 6 months pregnant. I thought nursing was supposed to make it all magically melt away!!! I just keep reminding myself that the summer before I got pregnant, I was living in the woods and foraging for nuts and berries to eat, so perhaps I shouldn't count my immediate pre-baby weight as a goal. That was the first time since middle school that I was so skinny. But boy, it's nice to imagine that I could get back to the shape I was in then...

[j_p_i]

Originally Posted by Comtessa

Erin, WAY TO GO losing the baby weight! I lost most of mine within a month... then gained a whole lot of it back. As far as I can reckon, I'm still at about the same weight as I was when I was 6 months pregnant. I thought nursing was supposed to make it all magically melt away!!! I just keep reminding myself that the summer before I got pregnant, I was living in the woods and foraging for nuts and berries to eat, so perhaps I shouldn't count my immediate pre-baby weight as a goal. That was the first time since middle school that I was so skinny. But boy, it's nice to imagine that I could get back to the shape I was in then...

Thanks! I still would like to lose another 10-15, which would put me at my end-of-the-military weight, where I was quite happy! Like you, I have to remind myself that at that time I was in a totally different place (deployed in Iraq) which is a large reason why I was so skinny then. As far as breastfeeding, I think there must be two types of women - the ones who breastfeed and it helps the weight melt off them, and the ones who breastfeed and keep an extra few pounds on because of it. I must say I'm the latter, and my mom said she and my grandmother were the same way. The last 15-20lbs I've lost I've really had to work for- watch what I'm eating and really exercise a lot. I am feeling better, though not sure when (if ever) I'll see a flat stomach again!

[~Katie~]

This is definitely one of my favorite ages. The first year is all about growing and the second is definitely more about learning and exploring and building their brains, it's a lot of fun.

First time around I was one of those people who lost all the baby weight from breastfeeding by month 3, maybe it was because he was so big and nursed a lot, I don't know. In any case, it took me pretty much all of Laine's first year to lose the weight but I've already gained back some of it. It's almost like my body has gone into survival mode and is clinging to every pound. So not only is it different for every woman, it's different for every baby as well.

[j_p_i]

Katie - I hadn't thought about that, weight loss being different from baby to baby. My body seems to be clinging to these last few pounds desperately too, and they are all in my stomach and boobs (of course).

Olivia cut a molar last night, it was through the gums this morning. She definitely had a rough night last night, so I'm glad there was something to show for it!

[~Katie~]

Laine and Olivia must be in cahoots because I woke up to find several molars coming in as well. She woke up around midnight shrieking and I am all too familiar with that sound by now. Let's hope they get them in quickly!

[j_p_i]

Funny, we were up screeching right around midnight as well! Perhaps they are in cahoots

Olivia is currently on her THIRD nap of the day. Teething must be hard on her, she's always seemed to have an exceptionally difficult time with it. I know it's hard on all babes, but lots of people told me it would get easier after her first tooth, and it definitely has not. Poor girl.

[major_mama11]

Hello everyone! I haven't really kept up with these threads lately.

Glad we're not the only ones in tantrum land! DS is throwing me for a loop. He's not very verbal (maybe says half a dozen words regularly), so he gets SO frustrated when he's pointing and saying "Dah!" and we don't know what he wants. Mostly he just says "mama" and "dah" (which means everything that is not mama!) all the time.

DD was extremely verbal by this age, speaking in short sentences before age 2, so she didn't really tantrum much until about age 2.5... I never realized how lucky we were that she could communicate her needs/wants so well!

Last month was pretty terrible, as Jake was teething four molars at the same time. He was so miserable, and wouldn't eat solids at all for a few days. Surprisingly, he still gained weight during that time. He's huge, 28 pounds- DD wasn't this big until age 2. I think DS takes after MIL's side of the family- lots of 6-foot+, big-boned people.

While DS is behind how DD was verbally, I don't worry too much, since he's very social and has great receptive language. He throws things on the floor, but then he carefully picks them up and gives them to me if I ask him. He seems to be putting all his energy into learning physical skills, like climbing slides and such, rather than into verbal skills. Maybe we need to look into baby signs as well, to ease his frustrations...

Katie- I agree, it is so different on the weight loss from baby to baby! I was downright thin by this time after DD (started out at the same weight with both kids). This time, I lost down to my pre-pg weight, but can't seem to lose anymore without seriously trying. My pre-pg weight is about 20 pounds overweight, so I really want to shed some more weight before baby #3!

[Kelly1101]

Just realized I hadn't subbed to this thread yet.

We've been busy busy busy. I'm 30 weeks along tomorrow, we've been in the process of moving for the past week or so, things are nuts right now. Emma has finally ditched crawling and is toddling all over the place. Still not into imitating words, but definitely understands things I say to her and will follow requests (if she feels like it-- she's nearly as stubborn and contrary as her parents), like "come here, follow me" "go to your high chair" "give here" "get the ball" "throw the ball" "put your hat on your head" "where's the nose?" "get your bottle" etc. It's almost freaky how much she understands, considering how little she talks.

Some pics:

In the grass: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../061810013.jpg

With my grandma: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../061810001.jpg

With my mom: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../061810018.jpg

Mac N cheese: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../062010029.jpg

[Kelly1101]

Okay, caught up on all the posts--

--Tantrums: Oh lord yes. She just gets so easily frustrated, especially if she gets bored. I'm constantly trying to come up with new things to interest and engage her. But if she's trying to do something (like manipulate a toy in some way) and it's not working out for her, she just melts down. Shaking her head "no", kind of doing this hand-shaking thing-- if I try to give her something interesting, she'll take it and throw it down on the floor hard-- stomping, crying, very into pushing stuff away. I try to talk to her calmly and do things with toys that will interest her enough that she'll forget being mad. Sometimes hugs work, and if I just sit on the floor next to her and let her stand and throw her arms around my neck and put her face against my shoulder, she'll calm down. Sometimes she just pushes me away and gets even more angry. I feel so bad for her.

Teeth-- still only six here. Which is crazy because she is still straight up TEETHING. Drooling, putting her fingers in her mouth, chewing on everything, etc. I'll probably wake up one morning and she'll suddenly have six more teeth.

Potty-training-- not even ready to go there. I don't want to start until she shows major interest, and she hasn't shown interest yet. I've resigned myself to at least another year of diapers for her.