Happy Second Birthday, November '05 Babies! - Page 3

[kaspirant]

I nearly have the beads ready to post. Just a few finishing touches and they will be out the door.

I've been struck down by the most horrific autumn cold. I took today off work and it was a relaxing quiet day, but I sure do miss my little pumpkin who went to daycare when DH went to work. It's been too quiet around here.

Jacob's birthday party is Saturday and I am going crazy trying to get everything done. I know it will be perfect even if *everything* doesn't get done, but being one of those perfectionist types and loving the entertaining that birthday's allow me to do will help with getting all the last minute things done.

i've decided to start blogging again. It's been over a year since I stopped and I am realizing I miss it a lot. There was a lot of drama when I ended my blogging days before and since then the *drama* people are no longer a part of my life. It's an exciting thing to go back again. It was neat to sit and read past posts that I've written.


What do you enjoy most about your toddler right now?
Is EVERYTHING!!! an option.?!?! I love his kisses and the way he holds my hand. The look on his face as he runs to me when I get there to pick him up from daycare. The bear hugs I get for no good reason. His "I love you's" and his "Miss you's". The joy and adoration that just emanates from him. His curiousity and the way he explores everything about the world around us. "Feeling" the grass with him and watching his joy at the little things....

What is the most challenging thing about this age/stage for you?
Being pregnant again. I swear there is nothing really *challenging* per se about Jacob or where he is right now. I mean he is in the normal stage of communication not being where his needs/desires need it to be but I think I could handle it so much better if I wasn't so crazy hormonally pregnant. Somedays I wonder who is this insane woman in my home. *sigh* there is an end to this insanty. If that isn't a proper answer...then I'd have to say the gulf between his ambition and his communication ability.

Does your kiddo still nurse? How "well" does he/she eat?
OMG yes. All day long and all night long and all the times in between. I can't imagine what I'd be doing right now if I wasn't a CLW advocate or willing and interested to tandem. Does he eat...haha...I joke that he's my garbage disposal. This boy can eat. He has just picked up a new thing that when he doesn't *like* something, he says "LIKE" at the top of his voice and spits it OUT. It's cute now..ask me again in a few weeks.

How is sleep now?
Sleep? What's that?!?! We sleep okay...we co-sleep.

What are your toddler's favourite activities? Favourite things?

Anything and everything OUTSIDE. Blue's Clues, Signing Time, reading books, balls, sticks, pinecones, bikes, monsters, animals, water, trains, running, jumping, climbing, dancing, singing, slides, drawing, colors, shapes, books, books, books, telling mama and dadi what to do.

If you could go back one year and give yourself advice, what would you say?
Get out of California, QUIT your job!!!

Back two years?
You don't need all that *stuff* everyone is telling you you need. Don't bother ..save yourself the trouble later!! Treasure every second. Marry that man...he's a keeper!!!!

[flapjack]

Did I tell you guys about my amazing week of revisiting the past?

Last weekend my ex mentioned that he'd finally tracked down a friend of ours who we'd both lost contact with- his best man, came out to see Alex when he was only days old, that kind of friend. He mattered to us. I got sent an email address and finally figured out what Facebook does.
Monday, I found my best friend from school (yes, I know I'm crap at keeping in touch with people) on Facebook, as well as aforementioned best man.
Tuesday Steve gets a letter through, telling him that some shares he bought in a company that had crashed that he'd written off as a loss nearly a decade ago have brought him some kind of big lump sum payment He's actually made a profit
Wednesday, I find a comment on my blog from the third person I've been trying to track down recently- apparently she found me via MDC whilst googling biblical homosexuality. I spoke to her last night, and DH is sulking cos I spent an hour on the phone. So I'm happy

[Gunter]

helen, what a great week the past has brought you! i love catching up with old friends but haven't used facebook. i do have a myspace account though that was originally dh's but i kinda highjacked it. how is the kitchen re-model going? we want to gut ours, too but we better find income first!

Lydia- i never got to reply about your parking lot scare. i am so sorry that happened to you, mama. i am so glad that everyone was okay. i saw a speeding car almost hit my friend's child (ezra's boyfriend, actually) on halloween and my hert rate went through the roof. i mean, speeding in suburbia on halloween with a million kids around? geesh. i hope that you have pleasant grocery store experiences from now on. and, keep giving those of us about to have two kids some tips on how to manage! i need that.

teresa- ez like sto re-tell a story about getting hurt. we fell down the stairs back in bali and she always points to her leg where she had a big scratch and says, "fell into a tree" and other tidbits. she'll even say, "it hurts." about her leg and it's totally healed. she will point ot the other leg and say, "this one okay." so, we listen and talk with her about it.

fern- so jealous about the snow. wishing you all the best as you process this pregnancy and the upcoming labor and birth. i have struggled a bit myself with this pregnancy and now my sacred homebirth space was defiled by renters. so, i am really trying to get mentally over it. we've talked about UC and about having the MW here who caught ez. not sure. i can understand and wish you healing thoughts and a gentle process as you prepare over the next few months.

sarah- i was so surprised to be reading a book along with ez last night and she began saying the words before me. like, wow, even though it's memorized, what a great memory! ps uhm, she has never seen either of you angry? how does that happen? i get so angry sometimes and ez has certainly seen dh and i have a talk while i was upset. do you think i need way more self control b/c it's damaging for ez to see me like that? just curious if you are super peaceful kind of person or if you have tips on how to manage kids not seeing it. either way, i need help in that area! ez sings, "i like boggies on my pizza!" and knows it's gross humor!

my birthday babe just woke up surprisingly early so we're going to open gifts!

[spughy]

Originally Posted by Gunter

sarah- i was so surprised to be reading a book along with ez last night and she began saying the words before me. like, wow, even though it's memorized, what a great memory! ps uhm, she has never seen either of you angry? how does that happen? i get so angry sometimes and ez has certainly seen dh and i have a talk while i was upset. do you think i need way more self control b/c it's damaging for ez to see me like that? just curious if you are super peaceful kind of person or if you have tips on how to manage kids not seeing it. either way, i need help in that area! ez sings, "i like boggies on my pizza!" and knows it's gross humor!

Happy Birthday Ezra!!!!

In answer to your question, Gunter - yeah, me & DH are pretty mellow. We never fight, we do argue sometimes but it's more nattering than heated argument. I've never raised my voice to DH and vice versa. Anger just isn't a part of our lives, either of us, and we're pretty lucky to have found each other I have no idea how to manage kids not seeing it .

Although - yesterday I caught the dog eating the cat's food and I had to put on a super-stern voice and "bad dog" her a lot, that's usually effective for, like, a couple years on any given infraction. Rowan was a little weirded out by that but I talked to her and explained that Daisy could only learn that way (which is unfortunately true) and I had to put on a special voice to talk to her when she did something she really, really musn't do. I didn't touch Daisy, and I was calm throughout, but I did need to almost yell. Rowan handled it pretty well, and later on I caught HER "bad dog"-ing Daisy, I forget what for, but she doesn't have an authoritative voice yet so the dog was happily ignoring her.

[DreamsInDigital]

Okay I've been a slacker at keeping up with this thread. Here is my go at the questions:

What do you enjoy most about your toddler right now?

He says and does the silliest things. This morning he said "Good morning mama!" and I about cried it was so cute.

What is the most challenging thing about this age/stage for you?

He's very explosive and demanding. He wants things when he wants it and not a moment later.

Does your kiddo still nurse? How "well" does he/she eat?

He nurses 3-4 times a day. He is a very good eater, and actually makes less of a mess eating than my 4 year old.

How is sleep now?

Great. He's been sleeping through the night for about a year and a half now and he still takes a good 2-3 hour nap during the day.

What are your toddler's favourite activities? Favourite things?

He loves to scribble with crayons, dance to music and watch Blue's Clues. It's terrible, the kid is an addict. His favourite things are his little stuffed purple dragon that he absolutely cannot sleep without, and his daddy.

If you could go back one year and give yourself advice, what would you say? Back two years?

Take more pictures. I wish I had more pictures of him from the last two years.

[DreamsInDigital]

Originally Posted by Gunter

Lydia- and, keep giving those of us about to have two kids some tips on how to manage! i need that.

I can hardly remember what it was like to only have 2 kids. Life was a lot simpler back then. Co-sleeping, breastfeeding, etc. certainly made things easier on me and made for less work. When Kolaiah was a baby I just carried him in the Maya wrap all the time. As he got bigger and started playing on the floor with Gabriel, they really started to bond as siblings and now that Kolaiah is 4, they play together constantly. Of course sometimes they fight, but Gabriel is so fiercely protective of him. One time Gabriel almost took on a group of about 5 or 6 kids at the park because they were making fun of Kolaiah and pushed him down. I have a picture somewhere I'll have to post.

Going from having one child to having two is definitely a learning experience. It's all about balancing everyone's needs. You will have a few moments, I'm sure, when you'll feel so overwhelmed you can't possibly go on another minute, but then you'll hit your stride, find your new "normal" and then suddenly you won't be able to remember what it was like to only have one child.

You can do it!

[*Amy*]

Hey everyone! It was so fun to see all of the Halloween pictures. What awesome costumes, Monique!! And Jen, Ellie and Killie looked adorable as always.

Happy Birthday today Ezra!!

Fern, it's good to hear from you as always. Sorry to hear about your U/S uncertainty. Your post reminded me of a friend whose daughter was measuring extremely small (like 2nd percentile) in her 3rd trimester and she was freaked the hell out. Turns out her baby was perfectly normal, big if I remember right, and the U/S was totally wrong. Try not to feel guilty, Mama; you went with your instincts and they haven't been wrong before!

Alicia, good luck on your return to blogging! I am so glad I started doing it, and just told my BFF that she needs to start one now that she *finally* has a digital camera! It's so much fun to go back and re-read them and see the pictures. I love it!

Helen, how fun! I love finding friends from the past. I have hooked up with so many high school friends through MySpace.

Well, let's see....things are finally settling down a bit here. I've been really exhausted the past week or so and finally hit the wall on Saturday and started crying about everything - the house, moving away from our friends, the price of tea in China. It was good to get it all out, though, and our party on Sunday was kind of like a re-awakening for me. I've done a lot of introspection and have had to face up to the face that I am really bad at pacing myself. I tend to go as hard as I can for as long as I can without a break until I totally burn out, and then I'm bushwacked for like a week and can't to anything. Not to mention I turn into an irritable cranky mess.

So I've been letting our Waldorf experiences (and readings) inspire me to a new daily rhythm that includes indulgence/rest time for myself during Brynn's nap (no more working while she sleeps!) and a to-do list of only ONE project per day. I think it will be really nice if I can keep myself to it.

This is turning into a really long post so I will just add the little survey and be off for now.

What do you enjoy most about your toddler right now?
Gosh....that is hard. She's just so fabulous to me; so beautiful, and smart, and funny. She talks ALL. THE. TIME. And says the sweetest things. She just cracks me up. Her imagination is amazing, so we have fun playing, or I will just listen to her play with her "friends."

What is the most challenging thing about this age/stage for you?
I guess for me it is having enough energy to balance her need for my attention, and my own need to have some rest.

Does your kiddo still nurse? How "well" does he/she eat?
She's still nursing! We went through that phase where I really wanted to wean, but I'm happy that we made it through that and we are doing fine as always. She is still kind of inconsistent on the eating, but she will almost always eat chicken, pasta, bread, or corn if offered. She's really broadened her horizons on what she likes though, so I feel like she's getting a pretty balanced diet overall.

How is sleep now?
Ugggh. Well...since we moved, she's been back in bed with us which has its pros and cons. On the pro side, she has really turned into quite the snuggler, which she never was before, so I am getting LOTS of cuddles at night, which I love. On the con side, she regressed to waking every 1-2 hours to basically latch back on so she could sleep with my nipple in her mouth, and I finally had to put an end to it and begin night-weaning. It's going well so far and she's already sleeping A LOT better.

What are your toddler's favourite activities? Favourite things?
Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs. Seriously, that's pretty much want she wants to do 24/7. "Mommy, should you play with stegosaurus?" (It's always "should," not "would.") Imaginative play and role-playing are the big things with her. She also LOVES to color and draw....dinosaurs. But she does have other "friends" that she hauls around the house with us: a big stuffed armadillo (Angus), a Little People zebra and camel, and a stuffed animal frog (Hopkins). She doesn't really seem interested in baby dolls yet.

If you could go back one year and give yourself advice, what would you say? Back two years?
One year? I would definitely tell myself to ease up a bit, stop trying to do it all, and take time every day to relax and do something purely for my own enjoyment!! Two years...probably the same thing!

[Awaken]

Subbing- will be back later!

So much fun to look at our birth announcement thread Those were the days I don't see us on the list, but I did post further down the thread originally. Ezra's bday is the 18th- does anyone else share his same birthday? Just curious!

[kaspirant]

Originally Posted by Awaken

Ezra's bday is the 18th- does anyone else share his same birthday? Just curious!

Jacob does!!! Crazy at it all seems since he was due Jan 2, 2006...but yeppers we are an 18th family too.

[Queen of Cups]

What do you enjoy most about your toddler right now?
Oh, just her adorable personality! She's so sweet and funny, and is so calm and well-behaved most of the time, but occasionally gets a little devil in her and beats up her brother and says naughty things her brother taught her ("Poopy diapers!" seems to be the preschool equivalent of "Oh, Sh!t!").

What is the most challenging thing about this age/stage for you?
The "no!"s and the random laying down in parking lots. Why must toddlers do that?!

Does your kiddo still nurse? How "well" does he/she eat?
Still nurses probably 6+ times a day, sometimes I'd guess closer to 12+. She eats great! Not too much of a breakfast person, but eats a really good lunch and a great dinner. Not picky at all, will try most things. Probably her favorite non-treat-type food is beans, the girl loves them! Will pick them out of any dish to eat first!

How is sleep now?
She goes to be about 7-8pm, sleeps through till about 4am when she comes to our bed and then nurses mostly non-stop till we get up at about 7am. If I have trouble sleeping through her nursing, I just lay there and think about all the calories being burned! lol

What are your toddler's favourite activities? Favourite things?
She loves play-doh with a deep passionate love that I can't even explain. She plays with it several times a day, every day. She also likes to draw, she's do a little scrible and then tell me what it is ("draw Killy!" "draw Ellie!" etc). She loves being read to, also.

If you could go back one year and give yourself advice, what would you say? Back two years?
Um, brace yourself because you'll still be tandem nursing a year from now. lol Actually, I'd probably just reassure myself that Killy and Ellie would grow to be friends. I was worried that they'd never do more than fuss, but they're becoming good friends. It just melts my heart that whenever Killy talks about Ellie he calls her "my Ellie." I'd also reassure myself that we'd make it through our move just fine and that the kids would be sooo thrilled to be close to grandparents, and that David and I would finally have a chance to go out on date-nights and such more often!

[*Amy*]

Jen, that is great that they are getting along so much better now. I know most people with two children say it is really hard in the beginning, but just gets easier and more joyful every day!

And finally, I have posted pics of the house! You have to go to my latest blog for the link. I hope you enjoy them!

[Queen of Cups]

Wow, Amy! I am amazed at the difference! We've been doing a little bit of work on our house, too, but just of the painting variety. Anyone want to explain to me who actually likes faux wood paneling? NOT ME! And, to get rid of it is either ripping it down and having drywall installed, or priming and painting over it. We went with the cheapie method, but I actually don't mind the way it looks once its painted. I keep telling myself its kind of a french country home style... But, back to the point - I cannot imagine doing all you have, Amy, with a toddler in tow! We've been here six months and still have one room to paint, one wall to paint, and a basement to put flooring in. Oh, well... the painting will be done in the next week or so, but who knows when we'll get around to flooring. (right now its a cement floor with lots and lots of rugs!)

[Gunter]

amy- your house looks fabulous!!! congrats to you on accomplishing all that hard work. we have the same couch and chairs as you all, same soap pump and similar colors on our walls. knew we were like minded but it was really neat to see such similar stuff. enjoy relaxing now! did you have someone install a new door for you or did you do that yourself? We need a new front and back door so i am just curious how difficult they would be to hang.

we had a really fun birthday yesterday. it started with ez opening the gifts from my mom which she sent to us. they were a big stuffed penguin about the size of ezra, almost and a stuffed globe. two totally perfect gifts for ez. she loves that penguin and is already saying, "come on penguin" and pulling it around by the hand. it ate dinner next to her and came to bed with us while we read books. ez insisted that it have a diaper and pajamas just like here so we put one of dh's shirts on the thing and all snuggled in the bed. she had the penguin actually holding the book at one point as she "read" to us. we called dh's mom and our good friends in indonesia so they could all wish her a happy birthday. We spent the morning at the park with her friends, accompanied by homemade vegan scones from our co-family (aka her boyfriend's mom). then, we had soup at panera with the same friends and another fam joined us. then, we played in the bookstore and saw another fab family who is very sadly leaving our town for tx next week! but i got to snuggle her 6 week old and ez held him. the second babe she's ever wanted to hold! she napped on the ride home and in the van. we played some more and had dinner. we called my mom, then bath, teeth, books with a penguin and peaceful sleep. she feel asleep with her arm around my neck which was a little bit uncomfortable but i was so wrapped up in her love that i didn't mind.

we never got around to reading the mother's blessings like we did last year or making a necklace with the leftover beads. i guess my bead stuff isn't really set up to work with, yet. i want to make that happen soon. we're still figuring out where to put everything now that some rooms are changing roles.

thank you all for being my mama support over these past almost three years. i would not have wanted to do it without you all! i love mothering with you each. it's an inspiration to talk with you all and read about how you make life work. thank you!

[Awaken]

If it's the last thing I do, I will post on this thread today!!

I can't believe the birthdays are happening! Glad to hear Ezra and Neela had happy birthdays!

Loved the halloween pics, everyone! Thanks for posting!

Kaspirant- what tough situation. It's sad to think about what kind of home life these kids must have to have. I hope you finish out your time there without any other major incidents.

Gunter- that sounds like a fabulous party idea! I'd love to do something like that, but couldn't get it together in time.

Amy- happy housewarming! I'm glad it went well!

I don't think we are going to have a party Dh has planned a visit to his parents over Thankgiving, so we will be driving 10+ hours with the kids, and have to pack and get ready on Sunday, his actual bday. I am pretty sad about it b/c that whole week is special to me, when I had Ez and our first Thanksgiving with him, and just remembering our first days together. The IL's will be hectic, noisy, crowded, and they aren't the type to just take the kids and give us a break like most grandparents.

[Kavita]

I am taking a little break right now waiting for DH to finish masking off the walls in Ella's room--I am painting and decorating her room for her birthday. One day before her birthday. Her birthday, tomorrow, when I am having about ten people over for pizza and cake at 6 pm. : Um, what was I thinking again??!!!!

Seriously though, I am really excited--it is going to look really nice. I had bought curtains before, but I finally just made up my mind and picked out a curtain rod and holdbacks that will go with the decor. So I'm painting the room really fun and nice colors and should hopefully be able to finish the painting tonight, and then put up the curtains by tomorrow. I am also being very good about asking for and receiving help, and not being such a control freak about all the little birthday details--once I decided to do the room, I decided to give in to a rare attack of good sense and realism and abandon my plans of baking her an elaborate cake myself (from scratch of course) and decided to not only get one from the store, but actually let DH pick it out and buy it! And I'm getting some other help as well, so I will not end up spending her birthday in a perfectionistic frenzy working my butt off and can actually enjoy the day!

[DreamsInDigital]

I'm really anxious about Winter's birthday. It's 4 days after the wedding and we are going to be so freaking broke. Poor babe.

[HoneyTree]

Amy, the house looks amazing! Are you always that tidy? ait, don't tell me. I'm just going to pretend that you, like me, only post pictures when your house is clean! Seriously, though--it's beautiful. You must be so incredibly glad to be done with all that work!

[Gunter]

DID- if it makes you feel any better, my babe did not get any real birthday gifts from us this year. i was so thankful that my mom's gifts arrived the day before so she could have the nostalgia of opening something that morning! we did buy a table and chair set, books and will get a bed next week for her new room. she helped us pick out the table and chairs and we called it the "happy birthday table". but, nothing to unwrap that morning if it matters.

we had a playdate at the park that i just sent an e-mail to ur friends asking them to come then we had soup at panera b/c she really likes it. and, then we walked on over to the bookstore with her friends. no biggie. we are having a birthday party at the science museum on saturday but i am not doing much for that either. i just have so much going on right now with our house and now our dog has fleas!

but i still want her and her friends to have a fun time. i am helping my best friend bake a cake and we're making it look like the shape of a penguin which is ezra's favorite thing in all the world right now. letting kids go crazy at the science museum means entertainment without much planning from me and no clean up! yay!

we do have 7 containers of organic soy ice cream in our freezer that taunt me to eat them though. must. wait. until. saturday.

[*Amy*]

Kavita, good for you for asking for help and not trying to do it all yourself! I'll be down that way after Brynn's nap so let me know if I can pick anything up on our way.

Thanks for all the kudos on the house! Honeytree, I have to say I am a very tidy person usually, but yes - the house was especially spotless for photos! Oh and someone asked about the doors (Jen?) and no, we didn't do that ourselves. Our neighbor is a trim carpenter, so he sent his crew over to fix our front door; it had been kicked in so it needed a new frame, but we kept the actual door.

This week has been *really* nice for us. I've gotten into a new daily rhythm that is working out beautifully for me and Brynn, with the added benefit that I'm not exhausted and cranky by the time DH gets home. I'm really proud of myself for easing up on myself and remembering that life is about love and enjoyment too!

DiD, your post reminded me of a great idea for gifts that I'm going to implement this year with our friends and family. For either Christmas or Brynn's birthday, since they are so close, I am going to ask (but really, insist, in the nicest way possible) that our friends and family members write her a letter telling about someone in our family (her, me & DH, grandparents, anyone we're related to). Then I'm going to find some nice way to bind them, or put them in a beautiful box, and keep them until she's old enough to appreciate reading them. I'm even going to ask my older brother to go visit my grandma (my only living grandparent) and interview her with a tape recorder about her family. We have native american distant relatives (my grandma's grandma, I think) and I'd love to know all about that and be able to pass that information down to Brynn. So anyway, I'm *really* excited about this and thought that even though it's not really something to "open," DiD, you could ask your friends and fam to do the same for Winter!

OK gotta go eat breakfast. Later, Mamas!

[flapjack]

DiD

FWIW, our family is all having lean birthdays this year. We didn't have much money back in August, so Steve and Isaac didn't have huge amounts of stuff to open (well, Steve hardly had anything.) So I feel bad about spending money on Alex and Skye, so we are frugalizing birthdays. I'm currently at the point where I'm trying to decide whether or not it is skanky to give your child a reconditioned art easel for a birthday present. Opinions are welcome- I'm doing the reconditioning, btw. I think handmade is a viable alternative.
We had a huge haul at the scrap store recently- a new doll and clothes, the easel, some paint, a HUGE mound of scrap paper and a huge piece of blue felt, so Skye is in glue-and-stick heaven at the moment. Bless her, she never seems as happy as when she's covered in mess.