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September 2009 Moms and Toddlers!

16K views 454 replies 36 participants last post by  Masel 
#1 ·
Thought I'd start our thread over here.


I can't believe that our little ones are turning or have already turned one!
 
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#177 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by 2boyzmama View Post

I'm having issues with hubby too. I just can't count on him to handle the kids in the morning, I feel pressured to not leave for work until they're all up, dressed, and eating, with the two big ones nearly ready for school. Hubby is struggling a lot with some personal stuff, so all the weight falls on me. Several times recently we've had issues in the mornings that have forced me to stay home until the two big boys are on the bus already, which means I go to work late. I'm really trying to be patient while he works through his issues, but every time I look in the mirror, I just hate what I see. Then I get angry at hubby for not allowing me to take care of myself.

I can absolutely relate to this. Ultimately, I had to draw some boundaries and be explicit about my needs so he could help me meet those, and while I was willing to meet him halfway, I couldn't shoulder solo-parenting three little ones without support and working. It was the catalyst that launched a huge change in our lives. Now I shoulder all the kid stuff, but he shoulders the financial burden. In about 6 months we should be in a better groove.

It sounds like Gavin and Keagan are at about the same place in terms of willingness to actually walk independently. I'm impatient, but also kind of enjoying the slower pace for the moment.
 
#178 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by confustication View Post
s. Now I shoulder all the kid stuff, but he shoulders the financial burden.

this is us too (but with only one kiddo) and i gotta say i can get pretty bitter still. the other day i asked him the night before (yeah...i procrastinate and forget things) if he could watch ada while i went to a dr. appt.
it was a huge drama b/c i hadn't given him enough advance notice (he is self-employed btw). meanwhile he has a dentist appointment the next day to which i made the point that it's a little unfair to come down so harsh on me when i ask him to spend an hour with his kid whereas he's free to come and go without checking in on me. i mean, if i want to run to walgreens by myself (which rarely happens btw) i feel like it's a huge ordeal. and then i get the fact that he pays the mortgage thrown at me.
and this is why i wanted to hold off on having another kid. i felt (and told him so) that he should try enjoying the one he already has a little more before he felt like we should be having another.
but i guess life had other plans.....ugh!
 
#179 ·
In our case, I've been alone with them since early Sept, so I've actually adapted pretty well. It will probably be this way through the holidays anyway. It's easier to not be resentful when it's just not an option for him to be any help- he's over 1000 miles away, so I can't be mad at him for not stepping up at night or something.

I've just learned to do *everything* with the kids.

Since your H is handy though- I'd definitely expect him to step up a bit more!
 
#180 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kismetbaby View Post
He was a monster early on
, weighing in at 20lbs by his 6m well-baby visit! (He was 9lbs at birth.) But at his 12m was only 24lbs. So he's obviously slowed down a HUGE amount, but I think this is normal as he's so active now (seriously this guy never slows down for a second!). .. also he's just obviously healthy and still above the 50% for weight. He clearly still gets plenty of milk and his iron levels were good (they checked that at his 12m visit), so I feel fine about his disinterest in food. Every once in awhile he'll have a day where he eats a lot and surprises me, I expect those days to become more and more common over the course of this next year. I assume that by 2yo he'll be eating solids normally and not nursing that much (I'd like to be preg or TTC around his 2nd bday).
kismetbaby - thank you! I agree - no worries, they'll eat in their own time as much as needed.
Same here - M was 8lb at birth and a little over 24lb at 10 month - we are going to find out how much she weighs now (13 months) next week. They did not mention checking her iron levels at our Peds office... Is this standard or did you have to ask for it? Was it drawn from the vein? How did your little guy handle this?


We wanted to TTC after her 2nd B-day as well.

I agree with 2boysmama, confustication and tzs, it is ok to make a plan for now (and change it as you go along and find neccessary) and to let partners know exactly what you need.
We were in balance and then it shifted to his "advantage" (going to the gym, playing basketball, etc.), so I noticed the start of that and just had a conversation (when we were both relaxed) about that and how upcoming weeks need to work for all of us.
 
#181 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by KikaKika View Post
kismetbaby - thank you! I agree - no worries, they'll eat in their own time as much as needed.
Same here - M was 8lb at birth and a little over 24lb at 10 month - we are going to find out how much she weighs now (13 months) next week. They did not mention checking her iron levels at our Peds office... Is this standard or did you have to ask for it? Was it drawn from the vein? How did your little guy handle this?


Sounds like your LO is growing and healthy too! Yay for mamas milk


As for the iron/anemia test. . .both that and the lead test that they did are considered "standard" around here at the 12m visit. But I have had friends (even one in the same Kaiser group as us) not have it suggested. So I don't know how truly common or standard it is. We are generally very against anything invasive, but since we live in an older house we did want to have the lead test and doing the iron test along with it was no extra trauma. . .I have to say though, it was a traumatic event. I thought they would do a heel stick, but they did a venous blood-draw and it was horrible (maybe more for me than N). They didn't get the vein the first time and had to start over on the other arm. He was *screaming* the entire time and reaching for the door.
It broke my heart.

Both tests were totally normal. . .but I'm glad to know that neither of those things is a worry. But probably with the next babe I'll opt out.
 
#182 ·
our peds office didn't do an iron test, but I get WIC so they did it at the WIC office last week. And just used a finger prick - three drops of blood - and I don't think Rowan even noticed.

I'm so sorry about the blood-draw! That sounds traumatic
 
#184 ·
Woohoo for walkers!


Our little guy took a few steps last night. .. .not sure if its time to call it walking yet, but he's on his way. Then he had the worst night sleep, ugh. Hoping it was just from the excitement of walking.
 
#185 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kismetbaby View Post
Then he had the worst night sleep, ugh. Hoping it was just from the excitement of walking.
That's how it was here - especially with naps. Perhaps a correlation to this new-found talent, So much more to explore, who wants to sleep :)
 
#186 ·
Uh oh- looks like K may be the last of our littles to really be a 'walker.' He is a great furniture cruiser and even will take a couple steps holding my hand, but truly walking on his own purposefully? Nope.


My oldest walked at nearly 18 mos, my next one walked at 16 months... so I guess I should be used to this now. He'll do it when he's ready.
 
#187 ·
Hey ladies! I have been MIA and just took some time to catch up. Wow, I missed a lot!

Lake is doing really well. He's not sleeping so good, though. His naps are all over the place. Some days he'll take two naps, some days one long nap, other days he barely sleeps. It has really thrown him off and he isn't sleeping so well at night. We've started bringing him into bed at night when he wakes up but that's not really working either. I think he wants the comfort but at the same time, he's not comfortable in our bed. He constantly kicks and spins and whimpers. None of us are sleeping well and I'm just at a loss at what to do. Maybe I should night wean? Maybe he needs to be moved into a bed? Should I feed him more during the day and hope he STTN like he used? Those are all the thoughts going through my head!

Besides that though, he's great! We went trick or treating last night and DH and I didn't expect much. But he was so into it! At first, we carried him to the door and got the candy for him. After 20 minutes, he was walking up on his own and grabbing the candy for himself! He even started saying trick or treat (sounded like tricker tricker)! He is saying soooo much now. He still babbles a lot but there are quite a few words that he says in context like mama, dada, Pawpaw (grandfather), Gam (grandmother), wah (water), thank you, you're welcome, and graham cracker. He has also started barking with our dogs. It's so cute! He is just so amazing! I feel really, really blessed.

I also feel a little guilty about having #2. I feel awful about feeling this way as well. I know that I will love and bond with this child as much as with Lake, but I also feel bad that Lake will be sharing attention. I hate that he might have to do things before he's ready, in order to make the transition easier. It's such a tough place to be. I would like to know what we're having already so that I can start calling LO by a name or at least him or her! It's still a little abstract for me.
 
#188 ·
we're also not walking. i thought WE were the only ones left! it's a little strange b/c she's pretty athletic (for a jewish kid...ha ha). she climbs really well and has a great overhand throw. but i'm enjoying being able to catch her, i guess.
 
#189 ·
So...I've long been a lurker to the MDC forums, and DS was born August 27th...but is so close to you September 09ers. Can we join in here? We'd love to share a space for thoughts, etc. online with others in the same age range...
 
#190 ·
Sunpath8--We're always happy to have more mamas! So WELCOME
Care to share anymore about yourself and your family?

And some of our babes were born in either Aug or October anyway.
 
#191 ·
Hi SunPath! Welcome!

We've all been sick with a nasty cold, so I haven't taken the time to post. I always think when I post in this thread it needs to be a long update. But it doesn't so here I am - for a minute. My LO calls me "meemee" it's the cutest thing.

OMG I just sneezed 10 times.

Anyhow, she has said a lot of words, but doesn't keep all of them in her current vocabulary. For example, she used to say hair and was obsessed with y hair. Now she doesn't hold my hair to sleep anymore and she doesn't say hair either.

She is up to walking about half-way across the room before dropping down to crawl. It's fun to watch. Still only has 3 teeth- really 2.5.

Well, my minute is up. Was fun while it lasted! LOL!
 
#192 ·
Everything is Dada here. That's his only word.
Except... I know he says more. Sometimes it's Dai-da... which I don't know what that means. But that's it.. dada or dai-da.

Tonight Ro got very upset with me in the bath, pointing and dai-da over and over again At The Wall, and there was nothing there for me to find. I have no idea what he was wanting.
Dada is water, bottle, food (with sign), bye (with wave), pacifier, even dirty diaper (which is dai-da)... today was the first one for that, cause he said dai-da and grabbed his butt.
I only know what he wants because he correspondingly Points (thank goodness!).

Does it correlate that his father is never here? Is he actually ASKING for dada? I don't think so. It's just the only word he's speaking this week.

Should I be worried? I'm Not worried. But... a month ago, he was babbling all kinds of syllables, babakatawamabakatadama... and now it's just... dada.
 
#193 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by JordanKX View Post
Everything is Dada here. That's his only word.
Except... I know he says more. Sometimes it's Dai-da... which I don't know what that means. But that's it.. dada or dai-da.

Tonight Ro got very upset with me in the bath, pointing and dai-da over and over again At The Wall, and there was nothing there for me to find. I have no idea what he was wanting.
Dada is water, bottle, food (with sign), bye (with wave), pacifier, even dirty diaper (which is dai-da)... today was the first one for that, cause he said dai-da and grabbed his butt.
I only know what he wants because he correspondingly Points (thank goodness!).

Does it correlate that his father is never here? Is he actually ASKING for dada? I don't think so. It's just the only word he's speaking this week.

Should I be worried? I'm Not worried. But... a month ago, he was babbling all kinds of syllables, babakatawamabakatadama... and now it's just... dada.

my son went on a 'bee-bee' binge a few weeks ago. Everything was bee-bee, pictures of babies in his books, my belly button, his bottle... as best as we could tell, it was his word for everything. Slowly he started adding new 'words' in. Appa for apple etc.
 
#194 ·
Don't havetime for much of an update, but... Does anyone else's LO just cram all the food on their plate into their mouth? E used to be such a neat, methodical eater; now it's like he's seeing how much fits inside his mouth. Sometimes he has to spit it out because it's too much to swallow! I like to let him feed himself, but I Think I'm going to have to ration it.
 
#195 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes View Post
Don't havetime for much of an update, but... Does anyone else's LO just cram all the food on their plate into their mouth? E used to be such a neat, methodical eater; now it's like he's seeing how much fits inside his mouth. Sometimes he has to spit it out because it's too much to swallow! I like to let him feed himself, but I Think I'm going to have to ration it.
Rowan has always been a crazy eater, so this is nothing new. But yeah, he'll put as much in his mouth as you give him. Give him 5 pieces of cheese, all 5 go in the mouth. So we're definitely doing One.piece.at.a.time.

his new thing is using utensils. He's quite good at it! I still help him load the spoon, but he can get it in his mouth and not drop. the fork is even better and he can 'stab' at things himself.
 
#196 ·
Thanks for letting us join you!

A little about us:
I have only one child, Weston - who we call West, and he is the BEST baby in the universe
. He was born 8/27/09.

We live in Tucson (hoping to relocate to Minneapolis) where hubby works for a health and wellness resort and I am a children's photographer (website here) and full time mama.

That's a nice, brief little bio, I think
 
#197 ·
Diana - Viv hasn't been doing the cramming the mouth completely full... but she will try to hold as much food as she can in one hand.
I have a feeling the mouth full thing is coming soon.
 
#198 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kismetbaby View Post
Sounds like your LO is growing and healthy too! Yay for mamas milk

Both tests were totally normal. . .but I'm glad to know that neither of those things is a worry. But probably with the next babe I'll opt out.
13 month visit: 25.6lb "light" and 32 3/4 in tall

Yay for mama's milk


I found out at the beginning of the visit that it is standard for this visit to have iron&lead levels tested (and they said it had to be dawn from the vein, since, according to them, lead levels do not show accurate reading if it's a finger prick). I got so anxious,but, luckily - they don't do it if they can't find a vein, and my little chunky baby has fat rolls (that are slowly melting, as she is getting taller) so they could not see or feel anything but that.


We are supposed to go to a specialist, and I don't know yet...

JordanKX- did they test for lead at your WIC appt?

confustication - No walking here either - M will hold onto the couch and make a step or two, but she loves to crawl to get to her book or toy and then - just sits.


sunpath8 - welcome to the group!

mkksmom - healing vibes mama
get rid of that cold, fast.

Also, to share with the group - we got these cute spoons (rubber - BPA and phtalate-free) in the mail (found online - bargain website), and baby M just loves to play with them, design is very clever, they are slightly curved so baby finds mouth easily (and can't gag on them - there is a "shield"):

(if someone is interested): http://babyhumaninc.com/index_files/Page1202.htm

What spoons do you use and please, recommend anything related to feeding.
(I've ordered special suction cups that hold plates onto any surface - if anyone is interested, I'll let you know how it works).
 
#199 ·
kikakika...
get the lead test...it's so important. the thing is, if you are concerned about the venous draw (we did one b/c of high levels, she didn;t even cry) you could still try to find a finger prick (they don;t do it at WIC but maybe at your local health department?). they can be very inaccurate but they err on the high side (b/c there may be residue on the skin) in which case then you would go in for a venous draw. so if you came out normal then you could avoid the venous altogether. when we did the venous our levels came back normal but i was glad that, if g-d forbid dd had high levels, we would have caught it. it's nothing to play around with, that lead.
we live in an old house but after reading the lead forums here i've seen so many kid that got it from places other than their residence so it's best to check.

ok...off the soapbox!
 
#200 ·
They check lead and hemoglobin on Viv at her last WIC appointment - just a finger prick (that she really did not like). Still waiting for the lead level report to come in the mail. The docs in our community pretty much always check lead levels at the one year appointment - partially because there are so many old houses here and partly because the earlier you catch lead levels the easier/better it is to treat/fix.

Sunpath - welcome to the group.


Viv figured out this week that turning in circles will make her dizzy. She'll turn herself around 3 or 4 times, then fall down, get up, stagger and go down again... then she laughs and laughs.
So cute.
 
#201 ·
Oh, how I've missed you ladies!
I don't know why I stayed away so long!

Welcome sunpath! Just jump right in, we are a friendly group here.

Kika kika, those spoons look great! I should order some for Lake. He doesn't feed himself with utensils yet and I would like to get started with letting him practice. I'm just so worried about the mess!

Lake had the lead test and had to do the venous blood draw. I had no idea and was nervous but he did really well. The nurse was worried that I wouldn't be able to manage him but I've always wanted to be the one to hold Lake if we do something like that. I sat him in my lap and hugged him tight. He cried for about a minute but was fine before we left the office. He actually had it done at 6 months as well, b/c of DH's job (painter). Everything was fine then and at the 1 yr WBV.

Jennifer, too cute about Viv!
 
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