July 2009 Mamas - Half Way To 3!

[QTRANDI]

Our babies will be a year and a half this month......crazy to think they are halfway to 3!

What new tricks is your toddler learning right now?

Favorite foods?

How's sleep - for baby and Mama?

Rudy (18 months Jan 7th) has learned to fake cry the past few days. His needs are met (very AP home) just at times he wants something and feels the need to do this. :o)  He loves to RUN. :o) We are going to start a music class with him soon.

Favorite foods = FRUIT. He loves strawberries, blueberries, apples, ANY fruit. Freeze dried peaches. He loves frozen peas, frozen blueberries. He likes garlic sourdough bread :o) He eats very little protein, but will somtimes eat a turkey sandwich, tofu stick and  a little chicken.

Sleep has been non-existant lately. He has a *ton* (16!) teeth and so it could very well be molars. Right now it is 7am and he's crashed out in my lap :)

I still hold him for naps daily, he co-sleeps with us and I wouldn't change a thing!!

Randi

[half-pigeon]

16 teeth! Wow!

Charlie turns 18 mos on the 12th. He loves balls, trains, trucks & our cats. Charlie has finally gotten into solids over the last 2-3 months. He loves oatmeal, crackers & soups. We started a swim class today, which I knew he'd love, since he has so much fun bathing & cries when he has to get out of the bath or shower. He has just started climbing all over furniture- makes me a bit nervous. This past week he has started hitting when I ask him not to do something (usually throwing). Both the hitting & throwing of hard objects is a bit frustrating & i'm trying to figure out how best to handle it. Hitting is a new trick, right? just kidding. I am loving this age though. I love seeing him smile & watching him get so interested in certain toys or books. 

Oh sleep. The last month or 2 it has been rough at night. He is getting molars & has been up a lot & nurses all night long on some nights. With the holidays & out of town guests, his naps got all messed up & i'm trying to get him on more of a schedule since he has been so tired & sometimes wakes up after just a half hour or hour nap. 

[QTRANDI]

the hitting when "no" (which we use minimally in our house) is being used here too. It is tough. We just take it as he is frustrated and try to stay calm. We find when he hits, it pushes our button, our level goes up and that doesn't help any, but if we state calmly "hitting hurts mama" he usually looks at us with sadness as to not want to have hit us.

OH the cats. Yes. Rudy sits, steps and pets the one cat that will tolerate him :o)

It is crazy, huh? So busy fun!

Randi

[BabyFireFly]

May daughter will be 17 months at the end of this month....

New tricks:

Climbing up on our bed and then attempting to climb out onto the nightstands to steal things she knows she isn't to have!

Flushing the toilet for me....she follows me to the bathroom and waits patiently until I tell her "ok you can flush now"

Depositing her toys and whatever items she has collected around the house when I am not watching into said toilet, or if I am lucky, the tub.

If she is in her PNP and wants to get our attention she just starts collecting her toys, pillow or anything else that she has in there and tossing it overboard.

Climbing into the dishwasher when I am loading or unloading it and then removing her own personal utensils.

Taking her father's eyeglasses off his face when he is trying to read and then stealing his Nook reader and running off with it.

She dislikes it when you take something away from her when she knows she isn't supposed to have it, and will throw a fit when you tell her "NO" but to combat this I just walk by a swipe it away from her and then continue on and pretend like I'm not paying attention, without an audience she doesn't care to continue to tantrum.

Closing the door to the fridge...whenever someone goes into the fridge, it doesn't matter where she is in the house, she comes running and waits for you to say "Okay, close it" at which point she pushes the door closed. Sometimes my husband forgets this and just closes the door and she looks up at him with this hurt look on her face and I have to remind him - so he re-opens the door and then lets her close it and she is satisfied.

Favorite Foods:

Any kind of cracker or finger sandwich (peanut butter is her favorite) as long as she has one for each hand!

Apricot cubes - I puree chopped apricots with a little pear or apple juice and then freeze them in an ice cube tray - good for teething!

Yogurt with pureed apples and a little cinnamon.

Whole wheat pancakes with fruit or french toast.

Homemade cream of vegtable soup made with sweet potaoes, celery, carrots and whatever other veggies I have on hand.

Chicken soup with tiny star noodles.

Sleep is generally not an issue. Since I'm due with #2 in April I have been going through bouts of insomnia myself, waking up at 1 or 2 in the morning and then not getting back to sleep, so I am up anyway. A few nights during the week she may wake up and let out a little whimper and that means she wants a bottle (usually takes a few sips and goes back to bed) or needs a fresh diaper. If she is cutting a tooth though, the nights can be a little tricky, she may wake up 2,3,4 times and actually cry....nights like these I just put her in the bed with us (she sleeps in her PNP in our room anyway) because lifting her in and out multiple times gets tough with a pregnant belly. She is however (as my husband calls her) a "badger" in the bed....she wiggles and kicks - hard! so I end up sticking a pillow between her and I to combat kicks to my belly, my husband is on his own, but could sleep through a war.

[tracymom1]

Wow, half way to three!  That just sounds impossible!  So nice to catch up, though! 

Kaya Rose is an absolute delight.  She is happy, silly, engaging and just so much fun to be around!  Her older brother was NOTHING like this at 18 months so we are just enjoying every moment!  She as a lot of teeth, eats everything in sight (but we really have to watch it because she can't have anything acidic - immediate horrible diaper rash).  Unfortunately, she stopped nursing a month or so ago because I am 16 weeks pregnant with # 3 and my supply went into the toilet.  I kept trying and trying but she fought it for a solid 2 weeks.  I decided to just let it go and look forward to having another nursling in the summer.

We are going to do a mom and tot class in the spring and I take her to the pool occasionally with DS.  She LOVES the water!!!  As for sleeping - I have to say that after a very, very rough start she totally hit her stride.  Now that she is not nursing at night, she pretty much sleeps through!  She takes one nap a day from 1pm-ish until around 3:30 or so.  She is just such a blessing in every way!  

Our biggest challenge is teaching her to respect her brother's playspace.  Sometimes he wants to play independently or with some toys that she can't really use yet and it is very hard to keep her away from him.  She wants everything he has  - of course!!  He understands but gets a little sick of it sometimes so that's usually when it is the hardest for me.  They both want my attention but need to be somewhat separated so it becomes a crazy juggling act!  The older she gets, though, the easier it is to figure out how to tailor activities to meet the developmental needs of both of them at the same time.  

Thanks for starting this thread, Randi!  Great idea!