Sept 2004 Mamas - Welcome to Toddlerhood! - Page 7

[leomom]

Kate's favorite food changes every day. One week she'll scarf something down and beg for more, the next she won't touch it. : This week it's strawberries.

Forgot to say that Kate only nurses once at night, around 4:30.

Harmony, that's so cool!!!

[JenInMpls]

On the shoe tip - for soft soled leather shoes, I once again have to tip the hat to Pia and her BOOTEEZ, do a search on eBay and you'll find them... you can look up other shoes she's made in her feedback listing. If she's not offering what you like, tell her what you want and she'll make them! $15 a pair custom made, 3 for $40 unless she's changed something...

Tristan's favorite food was whole milk yogurt until this week, he's been on a bit of a yogurt strike. He loves black beans from Chipotle and Don Pablo's, and hummus and whole wheat pita bread from a local middle eastern deli. But his all-out, total favorite food by far is gyros with tzaziki (cucumber sauce) from same said deli. He will eat and eat and eat and eat the lamb, the sauce, and the pita. The sauce he loves most, he will suck it off of our fingers. T loves Veggie Booty, too.

T is up once or twice a night to nurse, except for the rare nights where he sleeps through. It's so cruel when he does, because when he wakes up the next night, it's so much more exhausting...

We have found decent winter coats and boots at our local thrift store. I wish that I could find a set of bib snowpants 12-18 mos, now...

ok, nigh-nigh...

j

[Subhuti]

Hi All, lots to discuss!

Shoes: I've felt frustrated with lack of shoe options, too. We love Robeez ($24), and half price Target knock-offs ($12). But they get wet when we go out in wet grass or visit our friend's restaurant. Lulu loves to dance in the spill-over from the giant ice machine in the restaurant's kitchen.

I've ordered some boots from LL Bean on sale ($12). They're waterproof and warm, but look terribly bulky, so I may have to send them back. But what we really need is a (REASONABLY PRICED!) rubber soled shoe. I like Preshoolians, etc. but they are just way too expensive. Even if we are going to have another child eventually... I agree, the stuff in the stores is garbagio.

Night Nursing: I am just a big old crank if I don't get decent sleep. I took care of Lulu for the first seven months at night, while my DH slept upstairs. Lulu would nurse all night long when she co-slept with me.

Now, Lulu co-sleeps mainly with her Da-da. It works beautifully. And I'd say 50% of the nights, she sleeps through the nights without waking once for a nurse!! If she does wake, my dh brings her down to me for a nurse, then brings her back up with him. He treasures the time with her, and I treasure the sleep. He said just last night Lulu somehow wedged herself between his legs, with her head at his feet. He said she was using him like a little cradle! So sweet.

BTW, my dh and I don't generally sleep together because of his high volume snoring. Which, obviously, don't bother the babe!!



Milk: Lulu drinks whole cow's milk, and enjoys it. She's not a huge drinker of anything (even cider) except mama's milk. But she will have an ounce or two here and there, or mixed into cereal. I have seen no ill effect, and milk intolerance does run in Dh's side of the family.

Weight: Yes, I'm stuck stubbornly at 10# higher than I used to be. But I'm content with that for now. I have zero desire to curb my eating or do more exercising. My body feels in balence. Except when I run, (like after Lulu, not jogging!! ), and all the extra padding flies around!!

I too am so excited by the two pregnancies!! Yippee. We may begin to try this month for real. If I am very, very good...

Fav. Food: Yo-Baby Organic Yoghurt. Luli could eat this stuff til it came out her ears and not be tired of it. She won't eat "non-organic," mainstream yoghurt like Columbo. I tasted it, and can't blame her! She loves eggs and chicken, too.

Love to all.

[veganbaby]

Desi is still a frequent nighttime nurser...and daytime as well.

She hates shoes. She is always trying to take them off of her.

On food...she is at that stage where she only wants to feed herself. Of course tonight, I made soup...so we had to dip the toast in the soup so that she could self feed. She doesn't like to use the spoon. We're working on that, but she is great and drinking from a regular cup. And of course while I was spacing out, she decided to lift the bowl to her face and drink from it. Right now her faves seem to be toast, bananas and avacados.
Anyone giving your toddlers vitamins yet? I just started with the b12 to see if that would help her gain weight.

Mielle is so cute! I always love her smile.

[msrog]

Hi, ladies. I'm coming up for a brief breath of air here. I've never imagined how awful this month could get. Waaaah.

But I'm amazed at all the talkers and signers here!! Wow. Mine are starting to yak and sign a little more now, too. And throw balls and climb things, fight and wrestle and tickle each other, and have giant, screaming tantrums. Luckily they are only waking once a night lately. Not at the same time, usually, so I do end up getting up twice, but still much better than each waking 3 times, ya know? Yikes...

YBecca, I was thinking that must have been the longest hour of your dh's life, waiting for you to notice that ring. What a cute idea.

Do any of you live in San Diego? I'm going to be there tomorrow through middle of next week. Because I need to RUN AWAY!

My in-law woes have culminated in the most astonishing display of betrayal and unscrupulous backbiting I've ever seen... To end a long and emotional story --- we were shocked and hurt Friday evening to find out that the in-laws have been encouraging our exchange student to find a new home. !!! By Sunday morning, we found out that the organization was on their way to help him pack his things (we never once were told by anyone anywhere that there was even a problem and never once did they encourage him to talk things out with us). Not only that, and to make it even worse, we found out that his new host family is .... my in-laws!! (pause to let the ramifications and awkwardness and betrayal sink in...)

and my dh's grandmother is coming in from Montana in 2 weeks for a big family to-do involving pictures with all the great-grandbabies. Oh, I am sick just thinking about it. I hope dh will agree we can just offer to have grandma come visit them at our house, so we can not attend all those family dinners and parties with those evil in-laws and my sneaky student sitting there. (Oh, wait, he's not my student now. Grrrrrr.)

So I'm going to join my dh in CA while he works on site there the next couple of weeks. Living in a hotel with twins and my homeschooler should be interesting, to say the least. I will stay with my aunt in Vista over the weekend, and am hoping to be able to spend time staring at the ocean while I'm there, praying and thinking and trying to figure out how to forgive these idiots and move forward. Ugh.

Thanks for listening. And thanks for your previously encouraging words when I posted last time.

Off to finish packing. (I hate packing...)

This too shall pass.... In all things give thanks... The joy of the Lord is my strength... Count it all joy... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... This too shall pass.... This too shall pass....

[msrog]

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS to Augustine!! And Stacy, feel better soon.

And welcome to the new and returning mamas...

And I'm pleased to announce that the twins have actually fallen asleep together in their pack n play for the last 3 nights in a row. They became too wiggly and dangerous (I was concerned about them falling off bed, roaming the non-childproofed house, fingers in fan, etc.) for cosleeping months ago. And they had stopped being able to be rocked and nursed to sleep and then placed in the crib. So here they are at 13 months still being strapped into their bucket car seats in front of a kids songs video in order to fall and stay asleep. I'm so thrilled that they're "growing up" and sleeping a normal way, flat, in a safe bed. Together, even. Aaaaah. (This will help with our hotel and family stays this week in CA, too!)

Ok, really must go now.

[HeatherB]

Oh, Savannah!! I am so so sorry for what your ILs are putting you through! At least at this point you know where the attacks are coming from - but I can't imagine how awful it must be.

I hope you enjoy your time in CA! My grandparents are actually in Vista! They live next door to my uncle and aunt up on a hillside with a spectacular, well, vista! I hope that gives you a chance to relax and unwind a bit. If you can afford it, look up the pass options to the amusements there. We got a 2 day pass for the price of 1 day to Sea World and really enjoyed it. I know they have 5 consecutive day passes for 3 different attractions. Of course taking 3 kids to those might not qualify as relaxing! :LOL

Anyhow, I'll be praying for you!

[Mama Bear]

I am sending you lots of hugs and prayers Savannah!!!

[JenInMpls]

Savannah, I am *SOOOOOOOOOO* sorry about what you are going through and I am shocked, just shocked, at what is happening with Nicoló. Were things not going well with him? That is just too soon into a school year to just up and change a host family, and if I'm not mistaken, your dh's family speaks fluent Italian, right? You just don't place an exchange student in a family that fluently speaks his first language, it defeats the purpose. I know that your dh can speak Italian too, but you don't, and the kids don't, and that means that he would be forced to speak/practice/learn more English, which is part of the experience... What organization is he here through? Ah, my dear, I am so, so, sorry... I don't blame you for getting the heck out of dodge for a while. I get the feeling that Arizona is not turning out to be everything you had hoped...?

Sigh. You are in my thoughts! Keep holding your head high... you are doing nothing but right!

xo, j

[AugustineM]

Savannah -- I'm so sorry. I couldn't believe it when I read your post!!! I was sitting here at school with my mouth wide open. How weird, and awkward, and .... just ... mean!! The ocean sounds like a welcome get-away. I agree that I would NOT want to be around them during a big family gathering. I would NOT agree to it, but then I'm a notoriously stubborn person.....

[midwestmeg]

Savannah, that is just wierd! What a creepy thing to do. On the students part and your IL's. Yuck. Just curious, what organization is the student with? I did a year abroad with AFS and I don't know if it was unique to my areas organization (Melbourne, Australia) but no student ever would have gotten away with that crap.

Also, I loved your description of how your twins were falling asleep. :LOL It sounds like they are doing so well now, that's awesome!

I think I am going to start thinking (do you like the way I have to slowly plan in advance?!) about putting a twin bed in our room for Cecilia instead of the crib and working on getting her to sleep in that. I love having her sleep with us BUT I am kinda starting to miss that time with dh. I like having her in our room, my theory is that one of us could still lie next to Cis when she falls asleep and then if she wakes up she can walk to our bed. I thought maybe she'd be ready for that in a month or two.

I am still trying to recover from the shock of how expensive decent kids shoes will be. I think I'll check secondhand shops tomorrow and see what's around.

And yes, love the Yo Baby Yogurt! We just discovered that.

[veganbaby]

Savannah~ I'm so sorry that your inlaws backstabbed you like that. I hope some Southern Ca sun will help you.
Glad that your twins are sleeping together well. Desi is still sleeping with us...still waking up often.

[Sitara]

jumping in here!

Hi ladies!

Never posted to this thread before, but i'm so happy to have found it!!! THANK YOU!

My daughter was born sept 3 2004. Shes soo awesome!

Lets see... she wears Robbiez and also loves to carry them and hide them as much as possible.

Nursing: quite alot lately, but shes getting 4 teeth at once, and its painful for her. We don't give her any of that numbing teething gel, we got some homeopathic teething tablets, but they only do so much ya know? right now her fists and my milk are her favorite past time. Its amazing that we have these teethers for her...but of course, she won't touch them LOL, if its for teething she wants nothing to do with it, but once she gets her hands on a piece of cardboard, or her shoes she immediately trys to knaw on them

when shes not teething she nurses, once in the morning for quite a while at least 30 minutes. before her afternoon nap, before bedtime and occasionally once or twice during the night.

food: yobaby yogurt is her food of choice right now, she could eat and eat and eat it all day. She also loves oatmeal. It really changes from week to week though. One day she HATES peas, the next day its all she wants. Ohh she loves grapes too, sad their season is ending.

I was so relieved to read the tantrum lines from others...i seriously thought I was the only one. I've been feeling like i have been doing something wrong.

I have a question...does anyone else's child hit? My daughter just started doing this and only to me. I patiently hold back my tears, and say "gentle gentle" and demonstrate a petting motion, and it works sometimes, but other times, shes just not "down with the gentle gentle" I have NO idea where it came from...she doesn't watch TV, we don't hit her, or eachother in our household. maybe other kids at the park? I don't know.... i'm at a loss. A couple books I have say its "natural" but...i just don't know.

thanks for letting me release........
i really needed this thread.

[jilly]

Welcom, Sitara! thanks for jumping right in.

Savannah, I can't beleive that. That is crazy! I was going to post about my crazy IL's who are coming to visit tomorrow, but after I read your post I was like, "oh my goodness, I have nothing to complain about". Well, okay, so I do, and I will, but nothing to the extent of what you are going through. HOpe the break gives you and dh some time to sort though things. I too would not go to the family gathering unless there was some major reconciliation before it.

WARNING: -- feel free to skip, I won't be offended.
Well, as I said above, my IL's are coming tomorrow and wouldn't you know it, Andrew has started getting a molar. So I still have a ton of stuff to do and the prospect of driving a hurting, grouchy one year old 2 hrs into Saskatoon tomorrow all by myself. Yay. The drive back should be better, but then dh is gone all day Saturday, so I have to entertain them all day and stop them from attempting to remodel my house while they're here. :LOL Then we somehow have to manage to get MIL out of the house by 8:30 the next morning so that we can all get to Prince Albert (another hour's drive) in time for Dave to get ready to get ordained at 10:30. Then I have to drive them back on Tuesday. So it should be thoroughly crazy.

I'm not so worried about them criticizing my childcare -- they seemed pretty happy with it when we were in Toronto , as that they will take over my house. MIL was already talking about brining a roast from Ontario to make sure she had some "decent" meat to eat while she was here. Which means she is planning to make the meals she wants to make and take over my kitchen while she is here to make sure her family is eating "decent" food : Because after all, I can not possibly make "decent" food that is healthy and wholesome. She is such a control freak. When we were there last time she kept telling me I was feeding Andrew too many carbs and asking why I hadn't brought my food grinder with me. But on vacation, I'm not going to be a food nazi with my son when he's already out of sorts and in a strange place. Anyway, it just drives me nuts.

But I have decided not to let their anxiety rub off on me (can you tell?). They are chronicly stressed out and they carry this little envalope of stress wherever they go. I'm just not going to let them get me upset about every little thing. Just breathe and let it go. As my friend Cory used to say, "Water off a duck's back, Jill. Water off a duck's back."

[Mama Bear]

Welcome Sitara! I see in your siggy that you are expecting #2 in a month?!?!?!?!? Congrats!!!

[midwestmeg]

Hi Sitara!! I'm with MamaBear; tell us about the new babe! I was holding a little one at my LLL meeting this morning and oh, I have new baby envy. New babies are so amazing. Now toddlers..... well, they are pretty amazing too.

About hitting: Cecilia went through a hair pulling phase that wasn't very funny to me. I did the same thing and it passed pretty quickly. I think you are doing the right things. Good job not losing your patience.

Jilly: IL's are so tough... even the good ones are a pain at some point, I think. Mine are the usual midwest passive aggressive type. VERY hard for me to deal with. I grew up with 'have a problem, say something and move on' so I have a tough time reading between all the lines. Good luck with them this weekend!

And, on the shoe note, I finally found some winter shoes for Cis! I broke down and went to our outlet mall this afternoon with my girlfriend and her one year old. The kids were SUPER good, amazing, and the mall was really quiet, which is good because if I see too many SUV's in the lot I can't deal. But it was nice and quiet and the best part was a little pair of Eccos for $15 and a pair of good sturdy winter shoes for $30. The second pair wasn't that great of a deal, but whatever, I am sick of looking.

happy friday, all!!

[Yo Becca]

Savannah- hugs, sweetie. Stay strong and know that, as you said, this shall pass. well, I guess not that quickly when you're related . Just do your best to not let them get to you - they seem really toxic. Hope your trip is restorative. FOcus on your own family and all the love and strength you have. BTW - it made CLint nuts how long it took me to notice the ring - he kept asking me what time it was so I'd look at my wrist, at least.

I kept my neice and nephew last night, plus RObin , and my dad and brother are visiting. Talk about a full house! Thankfully, my SIL decided to come get my nephew on the way home from work, b/c he woke up and wasn't going down. As CLint and I worked for hours trying to get him to sleep all I could think was "Who would CHOSE this over nursing??" It was making me nuts, putting him down with a bottle. If you don't have options, that's one thing, but how annoying! Robin isn't the easiest to get to sleep, but she'll always nurse and eventually falls asleep. (Nephew is the same age as RObin). BUt having all 3 of them, trying to get them fed, bathed and to bed, and hosting the family also was TOUGH! Savannah, I totally get it now.

Sitara - Holy 14 months apart!! That'll be an adventure! Hope your pregnancy is going well, and Welcome! Robin sometimes builds from patting up to hitting, but I usually can intervene and slow her down before she gets too harsh. uBut she's a serious hair puller - and is VERY strongly attached to my hair. SHe rubs and fingers it while she nurses and gets very upset if I have it up (Which I do at least every other day). Then she grabs those baby hairs at my nape and pulls them out.

Jilly - good luck, and breathe deep!

Tomorrow I'm heading to FL with SIl and all the kids - DH is going on one of his big fishing trips. So I'll be out of touch until TUes. I've been a nutcase getting ready all day and - I need a drum roll - FINISHING my quilt top!!! My dear brother entertained Robin so I could finish the last square then add all the sashing. I started this quilt hmmmm..in our first apartment, before I was engaged. Over 5 years ago!! To see it all together was amazing, and I am so ready to finish it and never see it again :LOL

Hope you all have fantastic weekends - and hope that my single-mom vacation is fun and not stressful. Anytime CLint and I are aprt for more than 24 hours these days, I feel such a new respect for single moms - I couldn't handle it full time.

[jilly]

OH, yes, hitting. Andrew started hitting about a week ago. Sometimes he will just pat too enthusiastically, and that's okay, I just remind him to be gentle. But when I was at my friends' house, I had both Andrew and her 13mo old by myself and they were both tired, and I was trying to read to them,b ut the little girl kept turning the pages. So Andrew got really mad and "whack" slapped her on the face in jealousy. Then yesterday when I picked him up off the top of his toybox becuase it was time for bed he started screaming and "whack" slapped me on the face. We don't hit, but I don't think he had to learn it from anyone, he's just lashing out in frustration. Both times I just held his arm and said really calmly and firmly "no hit. okay? no hit." I think its something that's worth a no when I know it is done in anger.

Oh, that reminds me. Andrew's newest thing is to take my cooking / serving spoons and utensils and carry them around the house. He likes to wave them and also hit them on everything to see what kind of a noise they make. Well, he was wandering around doing this, and the cat was sitting in our armchair, and I saw him walk happily over there and lift up the spoon and . . . I just got inbetween cat and spoon fast enough! IT was kind of funny, though, because he was so innocent and enthusiastic and the cat was so shocked and terrified. I admit it, I have a twisted sense of humour.

Have a great weekend, all. I"ll report back on my trial by fire on Monday. Jill

[JenInMpls]

Originally Posted by midwestmeg

But it was nice and quiet and the best part was a little pair of Eccos for $15 and a pair of good sturdy winter shoes for $30.

What! what! where did you find eccos for $15??!! Tell!!

Today was our anniversary. We left T with our neighbors and went out to dinner and to see the wallace and gromit movie (we are big w+g fans). T was good if subdued but the moment we came home he attached to me like velcro and I could not put him down until he nursed and was asleep. If I did, the bottom lip came out and the crying began - real crying, with tears. Poor boy.

I went to Marshall's today by myself - Jo had him for a few hours at work - and bought myself a pair of trendy bootleg jeans. Woo! Tried to buy a sexy red shirt but it's super-tight and not at all flattering... : must return.

Time for bed, it was a long day. xo, j

ps Jill: congrats to your husband on his ordination.

[AugustineM]

Jill -- I laughed out loud when I read about Andrew walking around with the kitchen utensils and banging on everything with him. Thor does the exact same thing. Whisks are his favorite. In fact, when DH goes to change his diaper, he grabs the most interesting (non-dangerous) kitchen utensil he can find, and hands it to Thor. While thor studies said utensil, DH quickly changes the diaper. It works, actually. But now I can't ever find a spatula, or noodle server, or ladel, or... anything.

Sitara -- Welcome! I, too, am dying to know about your new little one on the way. I have one due in June and am already wondering about nighttimes... Also, did you find that your milk supply dropped at all? I am already noticing that I don't have nearly the milk I used to, and I'm only 6 weeks along. Thor is getting frustrated at night/early morning because I am totally dry, and he's used to getting a good snack about 4-5am. I'm worried I might completely lose my supply...

Thor also does the same enthusiastic patting (almost like hitting) to our cats, and to other babies. I don't think he does it in anger or anything, but I think it can hurt, or at least really annoy the babies or animals. I just model gentle patting, and also he knows what patting is now, since I pat him gently while I rock him. And I say, "I'm patting you gently. Do you like it?" And now he pats me while I carry him around. It's so cute.