May 09 - Falling into September! - Page 3

[Peppermint Poppies]

^^ Our babes turned into toddlers and started stealing the mouse and keyboard anytime we sat down at the computer

[cheryllynn]

Hi All,

Yup,Olivia loves the keyboard and mouse. She somehow can start up a game of Hearts. At a friend's house in less than a minute she did something on the keyboard and it said 'cannot delete system folder' by the time I got to her. We gave her her own unattached keyboard.

Olivia doesn't like the tv either unless there are small children on it, like Sesame street, then she walks to the tv and looks up at it and watches it. She loves the DVD Poetry which is fantastic. It was an HBO presentation and nanny found it at the library and I bought it off of amazon.

Olivia finally cut her 5th tooth and it's a molar!? She has her front four and then the top right molar. No teeth in between. We see a 6th one coming soon on the top left, next to her big tooth.

I love the pictures and have fun with Shutterfly. I'm planning on a book a year complete with story lines and text so it's taking awhile. Plus I'll wait until they put them on sale which they seem to do regularly.

[Novus]

Ahh, finally, a day that isn't 95 degrees! Of course, it's raining instead...

I keep saying Luke is teething, but I really think he might get to college with 6 teeth and bumpy gums.

TV--he's not too interested either. He will watch for long enough for me to trim his nails though, which is all I really need from him.

Computer--whenever I have the laptop out, he comes over and asks to see pictures of rabbits on it. So, uh, yeah, not much message board posting over here except during naps.

[Comtessa]

Yup, I can only post during naps now, too. Olive has learned how to climb onto the dining room table chairs, so she'll climb up me like a monkey if I sit here while she'd rather I be playing with her.

Plus I'm teaching now, as of this fall, so every moment of computer time I have, I'm desperately trying to prep my lectures. I'm always only half a step ahead of my students these days!!!

And, of course, a new teaching schedule means the house is falling apart around me. How did my parents ever both work full-time AND raise me and my brother AND keep the house so clean???? I'm befuddled... I can barely manage to get canned soup and toast on the table for dinner most days.

[~Katie~]

I.just.want.sleep.

Laine slept on me in the recliner from 9 until midnight last night. She wouldn't let either of us lay with her to put her to sleep and she didn't want me to put her down. She's still waking up every 2 hours, and then somehow manages to get up at 7am. I can hold off on nursing her until 5am or so but she still wakes up. I really can't believe I've been doing this for an entire year and somehow survived.

On Sunday she and Liam were chasing each other up and down the hallway and somehow he tripped and smacked his head on the corner where two walls come together. We ended up spending a few hours in the ER for that one and came home with a staple in the head. Having her antagonize him adds a whole new dimension to danger.

She too has started climbing and knows how to open my computer and play on it so I have to keep it up high. She is also turning into miss attitude and we get lots of "no, don't!" but she's getting a kick out of using her "thank you's" and "welcome" too.

[Novus]

Katie--sleep issues suck! Sorry you're not getting the rest you need.

Luke has been climbing on everything, too. His current favorite activity is to climb up on the very top shelf of his play kitchen and then yell, "Stuck!" I'm terrified that one of these days, he's going to tip the whole thing over on himself & his one-year-old friend, who spends the days with us.

Both of them are napping right now and there's a very.loud.truck right outside the window. I mean, is it really necessary to be moving washers & dryers during naptime? I think not.

[Peppermint Poppies]

Originally Posted by Comtessa

How did my parents ever both work full-time AND raise me and my brother AND keep the house so clean????

I used to wonder this too. I have 3 sisters, and I always remember the house being clean, healthy meals on the table each night etc. I was feeling so incompetent at everything. Then I realised that my memories aren't from when I was toddler, they're from when I was a young teenager. For all I know, our house was total chaos when I was young and needing lots of hands-on parenting. And I'm guessing that parenting gets less physically demanding by that stage, freeing up some time to do some of those domestic type tasks.

[j_p_i]

Hey mamas, just wanted to check in again. Olivia and I have been sick, so we've been dealing with that for the past week. It's brought on some real ups and downs, at times she can be seriously cranky and has even hit me a couple times to get my attention. Not sure where this is coming from or where she had ever seen it before, someone just assure me it's normal toddler behavior! I had a hard time not getting teary-eyed, as it hurt my feelings! I have to remember she's not doing it for that reason, but just wants me to play with her (or whatever it is) and can't verbalize it yet.

I feel like I don't have as much time to get things done around the house either, and I'm a SAHM right now! I've done some WAH in the past, but at the moment there isn't anything for me to do. I think a big contributor to this is DH has been working 3pm-3am full time the past couple weeks (usually his shift is 3pm-11pm, he's covering half of another shift)... so that means he sleeps until 11:30am-noon and then has to leave for work before 2pm. I don't mind doing the housework, but it is really helpful to have him around to watch Olivia, otherwise she must be doing whatever I'm doing 100% of the time.

Anyone else still have a toddler who is super shy? Olivia tends to take a long time to warm up to people, and would never go to someone she didn't know at all. In fact, old women seem to scare her whenever we're in a store! If she's not in my or DH's arms she'll even cry sometimes. I was a super-shy kid, so I'm hoping it's something she'll grow out of a bit and won't necessarily be as shy as I was. Not to mention... I can't imagine what it would be like if I wanted to go back to work, I don't think I could leave her with someone else without her freaking out.

[~Katie~]

Laine hits too, quite often in fact. She hits Liam more than me and I think a big part is getting his attention or when he has something she wants. I definitely discourage hitting to communicate, it's far easier to explain that to a 2-3 year old than a one year old though because at least at that age you can explain what words to use in place of hitting. She has more of a tendency to scratch me (as in lash out at my face) randomly.

Liam never had any stranger anxiety and would walk up to strangers and ask them to pick him up, made for some interesting experiences in public. Laine, on the other hand, is very shy. She takes a little while to warm up to adults but gravitates to other kids easily.

I think the fact that we can't remember the state of our own homes when we were small children should be a big reassurance not to be too hard on ourselves as parents, after all, our children will be the last people to judge us

[Kelly1101]

Em doesn't hit (yet, probably, I hear it's a phase they all tend to go through), but she will get frustrated and push things away. Like, I'll offer her a bottle of milk and she'll get mad and shove it back in my face, that type of thing. I'll say "be gentle" but try to understand that it must be frustrating not being able to tell someone what you want.

I'm SOOOO ready for her to be verbal. I'm not "worried" about it because she shows all good signs: varied babble, a few words (at this point "sock" is big), nonverbal communication (including shaking head "no" and nodding "yes"), and definite comprehension of language-- she understands most of what you say to her. So it's not so much that I'm worried that she won't talk, just impatient, haha. Especially as she's 17 months and so many kids are talking so much more now. She won't even say "mama" or "dada"-- if I say "where's daddy?" she'll point at him, "where's mama?" she'll grin (thinking I'm being silly) and point at me, she'll point at herself for "Emma". But not a peep. *sigh* I reckon I just have to be patient, likely one day she'll just start talking.

She's also a bit shy / stranger anxiety... she's fine with people she knows well (me, her dad, my mom, mil, my sister) but except with my husband and I, she still takes a moment to "warm up" to people. Once she feels secure with them she's fine and will let other people pick her up, etc., but they can't just rush in and pick her up right away. I did have to leave her for a few days when I was in the hospital giving birth to her brother, and my MIL and my mom took turns staying here in the house with her. She did come visit every day (I was in there two days), but she did really well with them. I think it helped that she was in her regular environment, and I left ridiculously detailed notes of when she eats and what, when she naps, etc., so her routine was the same.

Originally Posted by ~Katie~

I think the fact that we can't remember the state of our own homes when we were small children should be a big reassurance not to be too hard on ourselves as parents, after all, our children will be the last people to judge us

Uh, that doesn't help me, rotfl, because my mom was literally Super Woman. She was a single mom after my parents divorced when I was about nine years old (at the time, my older sister was 11, and my little brother was 4). She worked literally every day (two jobs) because my dad never paid child support. She cooked dinner every night for us. And the house was always SPOTLESS. I can just assume at this point that she didn't sleep, because she would stay up cleaning all night. Now, partly this is because she has some type of cleaning disorder, but it kind of gives me an inferiority complex, rotfl.

But yeah, I'm struggling a bit right now to keep things under control. Because I grew up in such a clean house, it is really hard for me to focus or concentrate when things are messy. But with the newborn, the toddler (both in cloth diapers which just adds another thing to do every day), and us being broke as hell so I have to do a lot of money-saving stuff like cooking everything from scratch... I'm a bit worn out. The only time I ever get to relax is sitting at the computer nursing the baby.

I did join a "meet up" group for SAHMs. We've only had one playdate so far but everyone seemed kind of cool, we're meeting up again on Friday. It's nice to get out of the house once in a while and interact with other real live adults, haha.

Some pics:

Playing with sand/water table:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../091810058.jpg

Naps with daddy:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../091810029.jpg

New little man:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../091810049.jpg

"finish nursing him and come play with me"
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../092810013.jpg

Hanging with the stuffed animals
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../092810009.jpg

In the babyhawk
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9.../092810006.jpg

[~Katie~]

Originally Posted by Kelly1101

Uh, that doesn't help me, rotfl, because my mom was literally Super Woman. She was a single mom after my parents divorced when I was about nine years old (at the time, my older sister was 11, and my little brother was 4). She worked literally every day (two jobs) because my dad never paid child support. She cooked dinner every night for us. And the house was always SPOTLESS. I can just assume at this point that she didn't sleep, because she would stay up cleaning all night. Now, partly this is because she has some type of cleaning disorder, but it kind of gives me an inferiority complex, rotfl.

But yeah, I'm struggling a bit right now to keep things under control. Because I grew up in such a clean house, it is really hard for me to focus or concentrate when things are messy. But with the newborn, the toddler (both in cloth diapers which just adds another thing to do every day), and us being broke as hell so I have to do a lot of money-saving stuff like cooking everything from scratch... I'm a bit worn out. The only time I ever get to relax is sitting at the computer nursing the baby.

That's pretty much an accurate description of my childhood, only my mother was the exact opposite and NEVER cleaned. Literally, she never cleaned. I'm also pretty sure she's a closet hoarder because she never throws anything out but she stores it all out of sight. That pretty much turned me into a clean freak from a very young age I was at my worst during the deployment since I really had nothing to do at night but clean, it took some adjusting on my part to lighten up.

It takes some time to figure out what works for managing the house when you have little ones, it gets easier when the littlest is older and can entertain themselves or be entertained by a sibling. I think it's all a matter of focusing on what absolutely needs to be done until then and letting the rest work itself out. The frugality and finances forum has a lot of time and energy saving tips that I use, especially when it comes to cooking. Getting out of the house is also a REALLY good idea.

I love all your pictures, especially the one of Em napping on the couch

[j_p_i]

I'm glad to hear the hitting is a normal/stage-type thing. I had figured as much, but it's a little different when it's your own DC I guess! It seems she does it when she wants my attention, often it's a playful thing so I think she doesn't quite understand that. If I say "no hitting", she just ignores the "no" part and hits! I'll have to work on saying "be gentle" more often (I try to remember but sometimes the hits surprise me). She doesn't do it very often, and is easily redirected afterward when I tell her "you can get mommy's attention with hugs or kisses or snuggles" and she gives me a kiss instead.

I'm certainly seeing the potential benefits of having a sibling to entertain your littlest! We aren't planning for #2 at this point, but Olivia seems to require a lot of attention right now, which is difficult. We've been sick the past week or so, seems like if it's not that, it's teething, or something else

I remember my house being very clean and organized growing up. I tend to be a bit of a neat freak when it comes to cleaning (though I can be a bit disorganized) so I've started encouraging Olivia to help me do it, which has been helpful. When I vacuum, her "job" is to dust the living room. She loves it, and actually gets upset if I try to put the dishes away without letting her help!

Oh and love the pictures Kelly! Very sweet!

[cheryllynn]

Hi All - just checking in.

Kelly - I love the pictures and good job on your new addition.

Olivia will be 17 months old soon. She's grown so much over the summer. She bit me last Wednesday and it really took me by surprise. She left marks but didn't break the skin. She hasn't done it since. I hope it was just an experiment that's over already.

I'm trying to figure out sizes. She's in 18 month clothes now. How old/big do kids have to be for 2T?

[~Katie~]

New October Thread!