August '05 mamas - we have toddlers...wow! - Page 7

[EStreetMama]

Owen said "buddha" today!

Welcome to Jonah's mom!!!

[LoveMyJonah]

Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone!
As far as talking goes, Jonah says a bunch of single words and a few two word "sentences."
Every morning when I'm getting him dressed, we do a routine where I say, "Where are we going? Are we going to school? Where are we going?" So two days ago I was really tired and was staring out into space getting him dressed. I took him into the bathroom to fix his hair and he looks right up at me and says, "Where goin?" Like, mom, you forgot! He amazes me every day

[eastkygal]

ktmama- DD sounds just like yours. She dislikes most veggies too, but like the same ones yours does. Interesting!

fridgeart - We get out 4 times a week right now. We do swimming lessons on Monday, Gymboree Music class on Wednesday, Waldorf Parent/Child on Thursday, and Gymboree on Friday. I'm getting ready to give up the Music class at Gymboree though. I don't think she is getting much out of it other than socializing, and that's a lot of money to spend on socializing. DD thrives off of getting out of the house. She enjoys it so much. We are really loving Waldorf and may start that twice a week instead of Gymboree. I haven't decided yet. DD loves the water at swimming and everywhere else too!

DD's new thing is spinning in circles. Of course she crashes afterward, but she loves it. It's so cute!

[Surfer Rosa]

Welcome Alison!
This is such a great board!

How is it that there are so many changes in just a week or so? It seems like everyone's babes are going through major transitions. I've found myself getting misty over how toddler-like E is, and I'm not a very sentimental person. Has anyone else noticed that when their DC is learning a new physical skill or is growing a lot (crawling, walking, teething, etc), that things like speech kind of slow down, and that as soon as it's mastered/grown, they pick up where they left off? E's last tooth (yes, #16!) is finally all the way through as of last night, and today she is talking, talking, talking...just wondering if it is a coincidence?! Before this last batch of teeth came in, she was talking a lot, then it kind of stopped, and now it's back with a vengeance!

[ktmama]

EStreetMama - can you clear your mailbox, please? Thanks.

[hopefulfaith]

Welcome, Alison! I love the "where goin?" story.

Adam isn't into veggies too much, either...he's really only into carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash at the moment, and I keep wondering when his skin is going to turn orange!?! Seriously... He won't touch anything green right now except pickles.

I love all the new words everyone's getting - truck and Buddha! Very cool!!!

And Kitty, I have been giggling for two days over "beast fed" -- Adam was mowing on some cheese yesterday and that's all I could think of. My beast was fed. heeheeheehee!!

Oooh - another OB visit today. She felt my belly up good and my baby's head is definitely down! Yeah!!

[mtnsunshinemama]

Howdy mamas! It's been awhile! It's great to be back home safe and sound after a trip back east Boston/NH and August's one, two , three birthday celebrations on two coasts and in 3 cities. WOW!: Check out all the fun pics of the co-youngest 1 year old on the thread here;
http://www.soulshinefamily.smugmug.com/gallery/1869370

I can't believe it! What big babes we have! August is saying just a few intelligible things; mama, papa, ball, bye-bye, woof woof, Nay-na (our friend Shayna) but he jabbers to himself NONSTOP! Obviously gets it from his verbose professor daddy!

Food ideas- August is all about finger foods, puffed rice, pieces of Kettle Valley organic fruit bars are a huge fave, bite size fruit including melon, peaches, strawberries, and frozen blueberries and mango. He still loves avocado, steamed carrots, broccoli and squash. For breakfst we sometimes have Earth's Best oatmeal mixed with yo-baby yogurt (I'll finish what yogurt he doesn't oooh-that stuff is delish!) or fruit and egg yolk and yes still oatios!

As far as getting out goes, we do baby swim (some) Mondays, library story hour on Tuesdays, starting Music Together on Thursday, and Sparkplug dance on Fridays. I think that's plenty along with the occasional walks with other moms and babes.

oops, baby cryijn2`

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by mtnsunshinemama

As far as getting out goes, we do baby swim (some) Mondays, library story hour on Tuesdays, starting Music Together on Thursday, and Sparkplug dance on Fridays. I think that's plenty along with the occasional walks with other moms and babes.

Okay, you mamas are making me feel guilty! We go to a playgroup once a week and visit my parents once a week, but that's it! We do go out almost every day -- the grocery store, Target, or another errand -- but other than that we just play at home. (We were taking a music class once a week for a while, but that ended.)

I'm also a little lazy about taking Henry for walks, but he loves it so much that I'm trying to be better about it. I'm just such a homebody and NOT an outdoorsy-type.

Am I the only one? :

[ktmama]

Hmmmm....a bit of guilt going on here too. I take A out to walk for an hour every morning and we stop at the park, but no formal classes or playgroups here. No way we could afford them anyway. As a matter of fact, I decided to stop going to my AP group from now on. Too many kids, not enough limits of agression and tooooo dangerous for my little girl.

[mtnsunshinemama]

No worries, mamas, whatever works!! I just find that August and I both like having something to do to break up our day and get out of the house. We both get bored in our small place and he always has better naps when he has had some kind of outside stimulation. We can mostly walk everywhere, which makes it easy for us!
That said, most libraries have free kids programs that we've found to be a great way to meet other moms with babes!

If you get a chance, check out my "nipple extraction" thread here and weigh in! http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?p=6039689

[Kaitnbugsmom]

We don't do a whole lot here either in the way of daily activities. We do go to dh's g-parents one day a week, wal mart two or three times a week to walk around/chat {yeah, it's one of those towns} and of course the primary school every day to pick up the older girls. Em seems to thrive despite the lack of any 'focused' activity though so we're happy

[henhao]

Welcome Alison!!


Paying for classes is not something I want to do. It's just not where I want to spend my money. I can call up a friend and meet at the playground, the coffee shop or a house and that is free!! Also, O tends to want to nap whenever I have a planned event. Woe to those who keep her awake past naptime.

One exception might be Waldorf. That would be pretty cool, but I would not be able to go until O drops her morning nap.

O started saying shoe and cool. It's so cute to hear her say "cool"! And she's also learned "cold" because she was calling everything in a mug or glass "hot" and I want her to know it's not always hot.

They pick up so much. These little people amaze me!!

Today I was a SAHM. It was so much fun. We had some AP mamas over, and I can see why Katie doesn't want to attend a group anymore. A boy poked O in the eye twice. She deals with this kind of thing very well...didn't seem to phase her very much, but I don't like that roughness. Anyway, we walked to the post office and went by the playground on the way home. Fun fun fun!!

[hopefulfaith]

I was feeling guilty, too. No organized activities here ... we live 50+ miles from the nearest organized playgroup and 100+ miles from the nearest formal toddler classes/activites. I can't justify spending the gas $$ these days to drive to them, so Adam and I take a lot of walks, play in the yard and on the beach, and I try to go "out" at least once a day in our tiny town (gas station, grocery store, post office, bank). I do miss having a library in town, though, and may consider driving a few times a month this winter to get to one. I read "The Truck Book" nine times today.

[skana]

Hey everyone. About the organized activities, Tova and I are both very social, but we don't do much in that realm. Just a Baby's First Books at the library one morning a week. But we go out EVERY morning (she's usually cranky, but not tired enough to take a nap, and as long as we get out, she does great) for a long walk/outing, and I usually try to incorporate a stop of some sort -- the library, mall, coffee shop, a friend's house, grocery store, park, etc. That way we have a coffee/snack (coffee's for me!) and usually a chat with whoever happens to be around. I've found Tova is a great conversation starter, so to speak! I'm also lucky enough to have my Booby Club, a group of seven Moms in my area with babes aged 7 months to 17 months, and we always get together one morning a week -- either at someone's house or at a park. Some of us have known each other for years, others we met through friends of friends or LLL. Anyhow, it's a wonderful group and great Mommy therapy some days. It's so funny, though, how our meetings have changed since the babes (or most of them) have become mobile. I think Tova was about six weeks old at the first meeting and back then we could just sit with babes in arms and drink lattes. So relaxing! But these days definitely have their incredible moments, too. It's all good. I also try to get to a LLL meeting one morning a month.

I'll be sorry to see some of this come to an end when I return to work (three-four days a week) after Thanksgiving (Oct. 10). Sniff, sniff ... I'm really struggling with it, although I know I am incredibly blessed to have had the last year-plus off.

On another note, Tova now has two molars. Nine teeth altogether. And she's really been struggling with them these past few days as they come through. I feel so badly for her, because it's gotta hurt. She's really nursing roughly (poor Mom!) and her sleep has been disrupted. Also, for the past few weeks, as teeth #7, 8, and 9 have come through, she's had really soupy poops. No matter how quickly I change her, they seem to make her bum a bit red and sore, and she's never had any diaper-rash problems before. Anyone else with similar experience?

We're enjoying gorgeous September weather here in Nova Scotia. Hope everyone's having a fantastic weekend.

[babycarrier]

anybody else fallen completely out of a falling asleep rhythm? I don't want to nurse to sleep anymore. He will not go to sleep at night. I've been exhausted and taken to going for a 10 minute drive around bedtime and he is fast asleep.

but now that is the routine. : :

in a couple of more months I am cutting back from 32 hours to 16 hours. i will slowly try to incorporate routine again. hoping this insane teething is contributing. 3 came through this week and he is working on 2-4 more. poor bug.

i am so tired i can't even make coherent sentences and obviously punctuation is out the window. guess that left a while ago, but then again i've been exhausted for going on 4 years.

so looking forward to not working evenings anymore. sorry for the rant, needed a safe place to release.

hopefulfaith - Wow! you are in the homestretch now, momma.

[chasmyn]

Originally Posted by farmlife

anybody else fallen completely out of a falling asleep rhythm? I don't want to nurse to sleep anymore. He will not go to sleep at night. I've been exhausted and taken to going for a 10 minute drive around bedtime and he is fast asleep.

Yes, oh goodness, yes. It was 9pm. Bath at 8:30 then bed and nurse down by 9. Now we're lucky to get to sleep by 11, I don't know what happened. Well, I do - we've been lax about our routine because of this or that happening...sigh.

Kiernen has been walking with more and more confidence lately. Just a couple of days ago he would insist on holding my hand and leading me everywhere with him. Today we went out for the brief sunbreak today and he would not hold me hand. I stuck rather close, but he just wanted to walk all about on his own. He only took my hand a couple of times, and only very briefly at that. He wanted to do it himself despite all of the falling because of uneven surfaces. *sniff*

So with all of this newfound freedom has come an absolute hatred for riding in the car and being restrained in his carseat. You'd think we were torturing him the way he screams and protests and thrashes his body about. It is all we can do to keep him from hurting himself or us when we put him in the car. We're both getting really good at finding things we think might distract him from his fighting. Once he is in and we're on the road, he is fine, at least for a short while. But man alive, we have begun to dread making any stops where we have to take him out only briefly, because then we will have to put him back in!

DH has become the man of the hour in Kiernen's eyes. He cries when upon waking he realises he is gone for the day. He asks for him several times a day and whimpers when I explain that he isn't here, he is at work. And when he does get home, Kiernen is so happy to see him. If DH leaves the room from Kiernen for any reason he will start to cry. You can imagine how much fun this adds to my day, right? Because without DH there, all Kier wants to do is read his books, in my lap, all day long. I love snuggling up and reading to him, but all day is a really long time, even punctuated by naps and eating.

Next week DH will be out of town on bsiness all week, so I will be a single Mama for FIVE WHOLE DAYS. Now I know, he is a singleton, and there are many single Mamas out there who are raising more than one child (my Mom raised three alone), so me whinging about this is really self indulgent and silly. But pretend with me that it isn't, because I am totally anxiety-ridden about it. It's bad enough when he isn't here for a day! Kiernen is so sad. But for a whole week??? No breaks for me for a week! No sewing, no showering...how will I do the dishes and laundry and cook with Kiernen attached to my body?

/whine

Sorry, I just had to get it out. I am aware of the silliness here.

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by chasmyn

Next week DH will be out of town on bsiness all week, so I will be a single Mama for FIVE WHOLE DAYS. Now I know, he is a singleton, and there are many single Mamas out there who are raising more than one child (my Mom raised three alone), so me whinging about this is really self indulgent and silly. But pretend with me that it isn't, because I am totally anxiety-ridden about it. It's bad enough when he isn't here for a day! Kiernen is so sad. But for a whole week??? No breaks for me for a week! No sewing, no showering...how will I do the dishes and laundry and cook with Kiernen attached to my body?

/whine

Sorry, I just had to get it out. I am aware of the silliness here.

No silliness! I feel sorry for myself when DH is gone for the evening. I would be so stressed if he were gone for five whole days.

Come here for hugs and venting any time you want.

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by farmlife

anybody else fallen completely out of a falling asleep rhythm? I don't want to nurse to sleep anymore. He will not go to sleep at night. I've been exhausted and taken to going for a 10 minute drive around bedtime and he is fast asleep.

but now that is the routine. : :

in a couple of more months I am cutting back from 32 hours to 16 hours. i will slowly try to incorporate routine again. hoping this insane teething is contributing. 3 came through this week and he is working on 2-4 more. poor bug.

i am so tired i can't even make coherent sentences and obviously punctuation is out the window. guess that left a while ago, but then again i've been exhausted for going on 4 years.

so looking forward to not working evenings anymore. sorry for the rant, needed a safe place to release.

UGH, that exhaustion is the worst. So sorry, hon. And I know what you mean about trying something just for a short-term relief only to have it turn into a routine. It's how I ended up having to put Henry in the mei tai for every nap for months and months. I finally just took him in the bed for naps and let him thrash around and be unhappy a few times; now he USUALLY goes to sleep without a lot of fuss. (Though it can still take half an hour or so.)

Hopefulfaith -- I'm so excited for you. Henry still wears me out, but I miss having a baby around. I've even got DH discussing the possibility of trying to use our one frozen embryo at some point.

[ktmama]

Just back from squeezing the last few days of summer out of the Colorado Rockies. Mountain sunshine, changing aspen, elk mating and Grand Lake on a fine Indian summer day. Oh, my! Rocky Mountain National Park was lovely today, and A INSISTED on hiking by herself (thankyouverymuch) no matter the terrain or incline of the paths. What a little Leo. Oh, and she growls everywhere she goes too. Speaking of which, her speech pretty much consists of animal noises now and she relies on the yes/no head shake for everything else. Crappy sleep both nights of the trip sent dh to the couch (earplugs left at home, poor guy) and me with little sleep. So glad to be home and getting back in the routine. Let's hope, anyway.

Farmlife, I am such a free spirit, it took me awhile to embrace the idea and benefit of a routine. However, I concede that it benefits A soooooo much to have a sleep routine that now, come 11:00 am and 7:30 pm no matter if she's showing signs of being tired or not, she will fall asleep. I'm sorry you are struggling with this. Sticking to a routine has been really hard for me.

Chasmyn - good luck with the single mom thing. I admit that I do enjoy the few nights a week that dh works late and I can get the baby down without the distraction of papa time. He seems to excite A so much. However, I will say that I am glad that they are getting more and more attached. At the hot springs this weekend, A let dh hold her (well, they pretty much snuggled together in the hot springs pool) for about an hour. Wow! No baby on me for a whole hour. I really didn't know what to do with myself! Good thing L was there to make some demands on me!

I am sooooo ready for sleeping through the night, but A still gets genuinely hungry a couple times (at least) each night. Seems like every four or five hours. I'm trying some things to help her extend her sleeping time gently. The white noise (humidifier) at least lets us come into the room without her waking automatically and this week I'm getting a lambskin rug from a friend. Anyone else use one of those or have any tried and true tricks?

Newmama - It's nice to hear you're thinking of TTC. I read your whole TTC blog entry about Henry. Amazing. Just amazing. I was thinking today that IF we do try for another one, it will be in about a year.....wait, didn't I just say something about being ready to sleep through the night? :

[K's Mom!]

Hi August mamas!
I've been MIA a bit lately. Been sooo crazy busy with the non prof I volunteer for, etc. :
Cheyne is still not walking but very close I think!? (Can you tell I have mixed emotions about this? ) He stands alone for quite awhile drinking from a cup, like the cup is holding him up! LOL!

I missed a few pages, but just wanted to chime in and say happy fall time to you ladies. I hope to be on more soon, I miss you all. You are great women to chat with.


I don't know if any of you ever watch the TV show "Extreme Home Makeover". but if you do, I just wanted to note that this Sunday is a makeover of a home about 10 miles up the highway from me. It's funny, because Ty Pennington (the host of the show) calls North Pole, Alaska the ends of the earth! I don't feel like I live at the end of the earth! So, if anyone wants to see what my neck of the woods looks like, tune in this Sunday (I hope I don't sound like I'm promoting the show, or something. Sorry if I do. ) I'm just excited that my part of the country is being broadcasted. . . Alaska gets ignored a lot. . . especially my area.

I'll catch up with you all soon. ~~Andrya