May 06 Mamas...Welcome to Toddlerhood!!

[Hevyne]

OK here is our new thread...unfortunately my dd is having a meltdown and I gotta go: YEAH!!! 2 toddlers!!! How fun!!!:

[Blue Lotus]

Morning Toddler Mamas!! :

I can't stay this morning, have to put dd in the mei tai on my back to clean the garage today. It is a wreck, and I have someone coming over next Saturday to make a tent using my industrial sewing machine, so I need a clear path for all that fabric.

Oh, and this week C finally decided she wants to walk around the house on her own, without help (or company!)... She is an expert walker by now. I guess she just had to get past that last developmental hurdle to do it.

Oh, and I have a loom now!! Woohoo!! It's beautiful. Now I just need a BUNCH of yarn to warp it & start weaving!!!

Gotta go, dd is running off (quite literally)

[Vortexing]

aaaaah, the toddler forum. I'm ready for #2. I have $800 saved up already for it. : Far from my $2,000 goal though. DH and I will have that saved up before next April though, as we're waiting to TTC until then (TMI alert... That is, assuming my um... sex drive... comes back by then :. It must just be super sensitive to hormones as the hormonal BC I was on before did the same thing. I suspect it won't come back until I get AF back from nursing less... And yes, I'm still having issues with this even over a year after her birth, and coming up on 2 years since I got preggo!! How embarrassing. ).

Cool about the industrial sewing machine and loom Panthera. Sounds like your garage is going to be busy!!!!

DH and I managed to re-deck our front stairs yesterday during DD's nap and it's almost done, but it rained this morning and I have to use some adhesive and so I have to wait until it dries. I absolutely HATE getting a house ready to sell, b/c you have to finish up all these boring details like 1/4 round at the base of all the trim, patching holes near the outlets we had to replace and the 80 year old plaster broke, etc... Has anyone noticed that even cheapo latex paint (I know, not very NFL or eco-friendly), is NOT so cheap anymore? I need to paint our garage and a 5 gallon bucket of plain old white paint was $140!!!! So even the cheap way of fixing it up (compared to re-siding it), isn't even so cheap anymore!!!

Ok, I should go get some work done before I have to finish the stairs!! I hope everyone is doing well!

[NYCVeg]

Yikes, the toddler forum! Maybe one of thes days she'll actually start toddling.

We're officially nightweaning dd, as the waking has become so constant that I'm pretty much running on empty and totally emotionally frayed. Last night I went in and rocked her every time she woke, but didn't nurse between 10 pm and 6 am. Surprisingly, it was pretty much a non-issue. She cried for 2-3 minutes each time, but then settled down in my arms, and it was never one of those really horrible cries. So hopefully nightweaning won't be as gruesome as I thought.

Moving in is going sloooowly. We love our new neighborhood, though. There's a baby or toddler in pretty much every house on the block and we're just 2 blocks from a busy neighborhood playground. It's nice to finally be around some other moms!

Mia--I've been a vegetarian for going on 17 years, hoping to return to veganism when life is a little less hectic. Dh recently ended his long career of meat-eating, and is now a pescaterian.

Amy--we're still having sex issues here as well. Both low drive (largely from exhaustion, I think) and some serious aversion on my part--though in my case, it's because of a total (though not totally irrational) fear of getting pregnant again and a dislike of the birth control methods available to me. I think once dh starts his new job in the fall, he's going to get the V and then hopefully things will get back to normal.

[Vortexing]

Originally Posted by NYCVeg

Amy--we're still having sex issues here as well. Both low drive (largely from exhaustion, I think) and some serious aversion on my part--though in my case, it's because of a total (though not totally irrational) fear of getting pregnant again and a dislike of the birth control methods available to me. I think once dh starts his new job in the fall, he's going to get the V and then hopefully things will get back to normal.

I guess I'm sorta glad I'm not alone. It's rough on a relationship to have that area lacking. Not that it's unheard of for new parents to miss that part of their lives in particular, but this is ridiculous... I am always apologizing to DH, how freaky is that? can't even describe how much I don't want to do it. Ahhhh, now there's some "natural" BC for you!

[luv my lil pearl]

Whoa! The toddler board....ooooooooooh!

BambooMama -- We saved while I was pg for Annika. I was able to save A LOT of money by just paying the savings acct as if it were a bill. I saved enough to pay the mortgage for about 4 months. It was a big help...and I continued to be frugal with groceries, and by taking fewer trips out w/ the car. By budgeting well, I was able to take the whole school year off, instead of the first semester, as I had originally planned! But yeah, keep saving!!

NYCVeg -- Annika isn't really walking yet either. She still holds on...a little. SHe plops her little tush on the floor if you let go of her hands -- though she can stand unassisted, she just isn't brave enough yet!!

Uh oh! Girls need me!!! Be back soon!!

[Vortexing]

Originally Posted by luv my lil pearl

BambooMama -- We saved while I was pg for Annika. I was able to save A LOT of money by just paying the savings acct as if it were a bill. I saved enough to pay the mortgage for about 4 months. It was a big help...and I continued to be frugal with groceries, and by taking fewer trips out w/ the car. By budgeting well, I was able to take the whole school year off, instead of the first semester, as I had originally planned! But yeah, keep saving!!

Yeah, I'm a saver too and I have automatic transfers set up so that every month it does it for me ($200 for travel/vacation, $116 for DD's college, $120 for DC #2, etc). I can make a budget squeak baby and it sounds like you do too! I have no doubt we'll make it to the $2,000 it's just that DH does not have a job for the summer, so now I'm paying all the bills for 3 months (keep in mind I'm a student and make about $20,000 in a city with high cost of living). So once we start saving again in the fall, we'll make it! We saved for DD too, and had $1,000 for all the stuff we got for taking care of a baby (dipes, toys, clothes, etc), plus $2,000 for her college fund last year. All told, I spent/saved 10% of our income for her alone and we were NOT miserable while doing it!!

I always wanted to make sure that just b/c we were in school when we had DD, that it didn't negatively impact her future. So we decided what we would LIKE to save for her IF we'd had jobs, toned it down to what was a little more reasonable (the $2,000), and saved it the moment my paycheck came in, then the day to day stuff came after that. Sure, she doesn't have as many toys or nice clothes as she could, but that won't pay for college YKWIM?

Ok, I'm leaving to go work, for real this time... must.stop.stalking.the.thread. later mamas!

[ecoteat]

Originally Posted by BambooMama

I guess I'm sorta glad I'm not alone. It's rough on a relationship to have that area lacking. Not that it's unheard of for new parents to miss that part of their lives in particular, but this is ridiculous... I am always apologizing to DH, how freaky is that? can't even describe how much I don't want to do it. Ahhhh, now there's some "natural" BC for you!

I'm right there with you. A few weeks ago dh was getting all snuggly and kissy and I was almost grossed out by it. Not HIM, but so much physical contact. And I felt terrible about it. On rare occasions it sounds tolerable to be intimate, so I try to take advantage of those moments so poor dh isn't totally deprived. I'm really looking forward to af returning in hopes that it will make me feel normal again. But I don't like any of my bc options, either. I was on the pill for a long time before and was so happy to stop using it. Then I charted for a while to avoid and then later to TTC and that was great. But with our erratic sleeping, I don't feel like I can trust my temps. IUDs creep me out. Condoms are a drag, but that's what we use now. The big V is just too much to consider right now. I think it's too soon for us to be THAT sure. :

Phoebe's asleep, so I'm going to nap too. She was up every hour or 2 last night and I feel like crap because of it.

[mom2noah]

I can't believe I have a toddler already. She still feels like my baby. She's defenitely busy and gets into way more trouble than her brother ever did! She's a climber and a mouther and she likes to have her way all the time!

I'm in awe of your budget. Mine totally sucks. We always talk about saving money but never do. We have been trying to cut out eating out so often and that does help a little bit.

[**Mia**]

Hi my lovely May mamas!

Just checking in and subbing, we'll be going down to the zoo when it's time for Selah to nap so she can sleep on the way! I'm already going to have a lot to catch up on I know!

[JayGee]

Toddlers.... wow.

Add me to the crappy libido list, and I've had AF back for 4 cycles already. I think it's an exhaustion thing for me, rather than hormonal. Plus, I'm also terrified of getting pregnant again. We've decided that we're really done. DH has his V referral, but won't actually go and get it done until after we move in July. Until then, it's pull-n-pray (or abstinence ).

I'm jealous of your loom and giant sewing set-up there, panthera. Sounds wonderful .

I must admit that I'm totally burnt out. My kids are watching a Disney movie, Kirsten is walking around with my PJ pants , and DH is taking a nap. I am just bone-tired. I think I've been training a little too hard for my triathlon season, and it's catching up with me. So I'm taking the next two days off from training, trying to get better sleep, and hydrate really well in hopes that my energy and stamina will re-appear. I've got my first race in 2 weeks, so I need to be "back".

Kirsten is doing well. I really can't complain about her sleep (usually 2 5-hour stretches a night and at least one long nap in the afternoon). We went for her 1 year WBV on Friday and I was pleasantly surprised when the doctor said no need for whole milk if she's still nursing and didn't give me a hard time about not getting 2 of the scheduled 3 vaccines (we are selective/delayed).

Our move is just 6 weeks from tomorrow. I'm not ready, at all.

[~*max*~]

Ah, the toddler board : I guess we had to make the move eventually. My LO is not walking yet at all either. She is just starting to pull up. But she does this really effective butt-scoot that gets her anywhere she wants to go. She is a pretty laid back gal, so she is certainly taking her time w/all this movement stuff.

Mia, I am a vegetarian, have been since 1991. I do eat some seafood though. Dh is not veg, but is very open to eating veg food. The other day I was washing fruits & veggies and had this total vegetarian geek moment - I was thinking, "Look at these beutiful apples. They are so simple & perfect." And on & on for each one, until I realized what I was doing & kinda laughed at myself. Sometimes it just really seems that nature can take perfect care of us. Here's a simple idea for veg cooking - we use that veggie crumbles stuff (Morningstar makes one, it looks like ground beef but is soy or veggies) and add BBQ sauce to make BBQ sandwhiches, or add tomato sauce, onions, spices to make sloppy joes. We also use it to make Shephards Pie. It is a great beef substitute.

Amanda, good luck w/the nightweaning. It sounds like it is going as well as can be expected. Hang in there. It will start to get a lot easier soon. And good luck w/your new house. That is very exciting. I hope you meet some cool moms from the neigborhood.

We just returned from another camping trip. This one was fabulous! We went to a really nice state park, had a huge site, it was nice & quiet, and the weather was beautiful. We did some swimming, hiking & fishing (not me, dh takes over that one). And today when we went to the playground dd3 yells, "Look! A turtle!" And low & behold there was an enormous snapping turtle who looked like she was trying to lay her eggs in the wood chips. We informed the park rangers & the kids got to watch the whole capture & release - very exciting for them. Thank goodness dd saw and announced it and didn't just go over & touch it, which is usually her way.

Oh, and speaking of dd3, she is fully potty trained now. : Hooray!

Must go rest, camping is tiring business...... :yawn:

[Sydnee]

Ahh the toddler board.: Crazy, I tell ya! But boy is Alayna definately a toddler!! Her tantrums are pretty incredible already.: I think this week has been extra bad though, because of her teeth, she got one more this week, for a total of 5. The girls had a playdate yesterday afternoon with one of my daycare girls, so they were gone all afternoon. So it was just me a Alayna, kinda nice! We sat and played all afternoon.

Today Brad is gone, left early this morning for a golf trip, he'll be back tomorrow afternoon. We haven't done anything yet. I feel so lazy.

RE: Sex drive- I decided to PLAN the sex. We have sex on Thursdays and Saturdays, I know it sounds weird, but I'm with you ladies on the low sex drive thing, so now I *know* it's coming, and it works out pretty well. And granted, their have been some weeks when it doesn't happen on the scheduled days, but all in all, I feel much happier. Right now there is no such thing as being spontaneous, so planning definately works for us.

Ok, I should really take off, I have soooo much stuff to do.:

[Ducky5306]

Hi mamas!

I've been so busy i didn't get a chance to post last week at all! Can you believe we have toddlers!!!!?!?!?!! Luke has been walking since 9 months and he now running and jumping so yeah he is quite the toddler! he is also eatting everything in sight lately.. We went to seaworld and for lunch he ate salad! He loves tomatoes, black olives, pickles (he freaks out if he sees a pickle its so cute ) crazy kiddo

panthera28- congrats on C walking alone!

NYCVeg- Glad the nightweaning is going good luke still wakes me up too many times at night.. oh well i am starting to like the dark circle under eye look

Mia- have fun at the zoo!

Max- congrats on the dd3 PL'ing!, and i love the Morningstar crumbles but DS can't handle soy so most soy foods are out for now


Sydnee- I hear ya on the tantrums! boy they have some nerve being so cranky huh? Luke has 8 teeth now! : he got 4 at once!! he was not a happy dude!

I read last weeks thread and something about babies knowing their body parts? Luke if asked can point to his or my: Head, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Hands, Tummy, and feet/toes.. I didn't really "teach" him but he just picked it up somehow

Re: Sex Drive.. I got AF back pretty early but i'm divorced so I am in the opposite boat! I would REALLY, REALLY LIKE to be having sex regularly but haven't gotten any since before DS was born! (TMI, sorry)

take care mamas!

[nataliachick7]

hi mamas! i havent posted on the may 06 threads yet...

i have a ds who has been walking since 9 months.

he has been a high needs baby (severe reflux and food intolerances) and is quite the handful. he wants to be carried quite a bit, and i dont have a carrier. i cant afford one my back and my arms hurt so bad!

i am also currently seperated, have been since march, and since having the baby, NEVER wanted to have sex. it became quite an issue for DP. but now since im seperated and i havent had it in so long, i am really craving it....and find myself daydreaming

sorry tmi!

[TxMominCT]

Just a quick sub and Hi!

Good luck with the nightweaning (NYCVEG Maybe?) We started about a month ago, and last night Clara slept through the night!! It's a slow process but after a big you'll think WOW what a difference a little bit can make! Now we'll see about tonight!
Sex drive, I'm still having problems too, I'm not really feeling as much aversion to it though, (AF came back a long time ago for me) I guess that's an improvement! Plus who has time for that!

See you all later I'm off to study!

[Shahbazin]

Whee! The toddler board! We're not quite to walking yet here; Annie can stand briefly, & walk w/one hand on something - I feel like we're real close to it, though. NYCVeg, good luck w/the nightweaning! Except for a few nights whe she was sick (turned out to be just roseola), Annie's been sleeping through the night for about the last 2-3 weeks; it's a pity that as she's taken to sleeping longer, I've been getting less (I think I'm getting up to pee & then change sides about every 1 1/2 hours now...). Oh well, at least maybe I won't need to deal w/both of them at night?
I've been making every effort to see that DD is getting lots of veggies & fresh fruits; I have a real strong aversion to most of them, so I want to be sure she has a better start & a more balanced diet than I do; DH eats better, but is weirdly picky about other things (doesn't like pasta or soups/stews). My favorite cuisine is English, if that tells you anything
Sex drive - non-existant until 1st AF (whic, alas, seems to return all too quickly...), but real strong when I'm fertile (I actually had more drive once off the Pill, too...) - last part of preg, back to non-existant, I just have no energy & feel real sore for days afterward, so it's not happening. DH & I seriously considering the V for him.
Budgeting - I'm in awe of you who do well w/this, we're still paying off some credit card debt (we've never been big spenders or anything, just never had high paying jobs, & live in a high cost of living area - heck, I have a 19 yr old car w/over 300,00 miles on it), if we can get some savings together, we'd really like to stop being renters, & get a house - don't see it happening in CA though. Plus, do have to consider retirement- DH is in his 50's now, & we don't really have much set aside; I'll be entering my 60's myself, when our kids hit 20. :

[Hevyne]

Busy day for me today!! Welcome to the group Nataliachick and MomtoNoah!! Everytime I get on here the kids are at each other: OK I will be back later...again!!

[luv my lil pearl]

Sex drive...I actually have a pretty good one now. I didn't though, for about 3 years...since getting pg w/ dd1. I was also creeped out by IUDs, but then I just went ahead and got one, and you don't even know it's there. I love it, actually...and I have the Mirena one.

About being a vegetarian...I could totally be one if I could live on Indian food! If it's spicy, it satisfies me...which has been a key to my weight loss success...

MamaBeakley...thanks for the yummmmmo tea! It is wonderful!!! I think I have a new fave!!!

I need to do something about night nursing too...gently, of course. A's crib is sidecarred onto our guest bed (well, actually it has been my bed for the past year) and I ended up sleeping in the crib w/ her last night because if my boob wasn't in her mouth, she was awake. I worry about how we are going to do once work starts again in August...we are so attached.....any tips on how to stay attached, but to help her make an "as smooth as possible" adjustment to child care???

[**Mia**]

Back from the zoo, or actually Wild Animal Park - oye, quite a long day!

Thanks for the vegetarian answers, and Max thanks for the suggestions about the crumbles- I'll have to try it!

Re: sex, Sydnee- planning it is a great idea, since I'm pretty much never in the mood anymore. I'm always too touched out to even bother with it, except right before AF visits, then DH can't keep my hands off of him!

Selah's still not in the mood to walk unassisted, unless she forgets she's doing it and then she'll take a couple of steps and then remember and look around like she's making sure no one saw her and then she drops to the floor and resumes her leg dragging crawl, instead of correcting her crawling she's only gotten faster- she get's around like nobody's business!

Anyway, be back tomorrow morning, DH & I stayed up and watched a movie.