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Happy Second Birthday! *~June 04 Kids & Mammas~*

6K views 272 replies 12 participants last post by  Flpnspn 
#1 ·
Happy Birthday, Kids!


Killy (Queen of Cups); 25 May
James (Smithie); 30 May
Flora (seedling); 4 June
Rossignel (Balancin1); 5 June
Rowan (LizD); 8 June
Kieran (rubellin); 9 June
Caitlin (Mummoth); 14 June
Lily (3girlsmommy); 15 June
Julian (Doodlebugsmom); 16 June
Charlie (BabyBumblebee); 16 June
Zach (boatbaby); 18 June
Lily (dharmama); 19 June
Nadia (heatherbell); 19 June
BooBah (eilonwy); 24 June
Rowan (mattjule); 26 June
Michael (bandana); 29 June

Let me know if you want anything added/changed.
 
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#52 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Queen of Cups
So, Target has the cutest toddler shirts right now! I got Killy one that says, "My grandparents don't spoil me, they're just very accomodating." and one that says, "I do my own stunts."
I bought that "stunts" shirt for BeanBean. I love it, but it doesn't fit him well-- it's so wide, it's built for a kid who's entirely un-Bean-like.
I keep thinking that I'll cut the cute part out and then make it a patch on another shirt or a jacket, but I haven't been able to find shirts that fit him *anywhere*... they're making everything for much rounder children and if your kid's a string, your just SOL.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Balancin1
I am having trouble getting out of the house too and getting out and doing stuff makes everything go better. I cannot imagine it with three children, one child alone is like mounting a polar expedition. R needs good transitions but sometimes I just have to get firm and get her out the door and then she is fine. What's Pine Grove?
I was talking about this on the April DDC thread; some of the new (first time) moms were asking how you get out of the house with a baby, and I had to laugh. It seemed so difficult to get out when it was just BeanBean, and absolutely impossible when BooBah was small... these days, I hardly think about it.
It really gets easier after the first two kids. Some of it is me (I'm more relaxed and more prepared at the same time) and some of it is them (BeanBean is a whole person who can dress himself, put his shoes on, carry his things downstairs and buckle himself into his carseat; he can also be relied upon not to do any number of dangerous/scary/mamma-involvement-required things). All in all, it's no more difficult to get the kids out of the house (for me) now than it was when BeanBean was a little guy. Embarassingly, I find that I take almost exactly the same amount of "stuff" with me.


Erin, congrats! It's always nice when you can get them to sleep without tribulation.


It's official-- ChibiChibi will be free from school forever on the 8th.
I made a deal with my mother concerning BizzyBug: if I can get her up at least one grade level in reading in the next two months, she will pull her out of school as well.
One grade level would be a heck of a lot more than she learned this year; I mean, every single day, when you ask her, "What did you do at school today?" she would launch into this big explanation about who had snack that day, who's birthday it was, and how many kids in her class were six (she'd recite them all). With more questions, you could sometimes elicit more answers from her-- yesterday, she told me that she did reading buddies and that hers was "Littlgirl Soandso Mrs. Soandso's daughter who's in third grade in Mrs. Whatserface's class she's prolly 8 or 9." (No, she really doesn't speak with any punctuation marks at all...
: We'll have to work on that.) My sister thinks that I'm completely insane to want to have four kids in the house, to say nothing of five. She doesn't understand how deep my loathing of school runs, or my commitment to homeschooling and saving my nieces, as well as my own children, from the hell that I associate with school. At least I'm getting them before things get really awful... although things have been pretty bad for Chibi this year.
 
#53 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by eilonwy
I was talking about this on the April DDC thread; some of the new (first time) moms were asking how you get out of the house with a baby, and I had to laugh. It seemed so difficult to get out when it was just BeanBean, and absolutely impossible when BooBah was small... these days, I hardly think about it.
It really gets easier after the first two kids. Some of it is me (I'm more relaxed and more prepared at the same time) and some of it is them (BeanBean is a whole person who can dress himself, put his shoes on, carry his things downstairs and buckle himself into his carseat; he can also be relied upon not to do any number of dangerous/scary/mamma-involvement-required things). All in all, it's no more difficult to get the kids out of the house (for me) now than it was when BeanBean was a little guy. Embarassingly, I find that I take almost exactly the same amount of "stuff" with me.

I agree! W/ Lauren I felt like it took me at least an hour to pack up and leave the house. I was always afraid I wouldn't have enough stuff
: When Maddie was little I was always afraid that I wouldn't be able to chase Lauren and take care of Maddie. I was constantly filled w/ what if's. When Lily was born there was no way I could stay home, I had to take someone to dance, school, swimming, soccer, playgroup etc! I now travel so light. W/ Lauren I had one of those Lands End diaper bags that look like carry-on luggage and I brought everything!! W/ Maddie I had a little tripper back pack diaper bag and I still brought a lot. Now I have a WAHM fancy diaper bag and I bring almost nothing (diaper, wipes, spray bottle, snacks and my wallet) and most of the time I leave it all in my car and just bring my wallet. It's funny how you change in 7 years!

Oh hey did I tell you today is my 10th anniversary! 10 years ago right now I was eating at Denny's w/ my bridesmaids before we went to get our hair done. Time flies!

And speaking of my anniversary dh & I had planned to go back to Sandals for our 10th aniversary. We thought we'd just leave the kids w/ family and take off for a week. We also thought we'd have way more money then we do now, because I was NEVER going to be one of those people that left their career to raise their kids! Heck, wasn't that what day care was for!
Man I've changed!
 
#54 ·
Yeah, when BeanBean was little, I walked everywhere and took him in this gigantic Peg Perego stroller. It has a huge basket underneath it, and I'd inevitably fill it. It was a slightly different situation, because it was winter and I did in fact need to have an extra blanket on hand, but other than that? A book, my wallet, half a package of diapers, a whole box of wipes, purell, my breastpump (what if the world ended while I was out?!), an extra bottle & nipple, wipes to steralize said bottle, diaper rash cream, baby lotion, extra socks...
This list went on and on!

Now I keep a little bottle of purell, a box of baby wipes and half a dozen sposies each for Bella and BooBah in the car; I've also got an emergency breastpump (because on three separate occasions I have needed a pump and not had one on me
: ) & milk storage kit in a plastic shoebox and a first aid kit that both live in the car. My wallet usually stays in the car, so that I know where it is.
Other than that?
Carseats... oh! In the summertime, I like to keep take & toss sippies in the car, because the kids get dehydrated (especially BooBah) and bottled water is too expensive if you buy less than a gallon at a time.
I try to keep a sling in the car, but that's difficult for me these days. It doesn't matter: I can still have the kids ready to go anywhere for up to 3 hours in about 10 minutes.
 
#56 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by 3girlsmommy
We thought we'd just leave the kids w/ family and take off for a week. We also thought we'd have way more money then we do now, because I was NEVER going to be one of those people that left their career to raise their kids! Heck, wasn't that what day care was for!
Man I've changed!


How funny it seems in retrospect. I wasn't going to let having a child "change" me as if it was somehow bad to let motherhood change me. I guess I was afraid of losing myself because I didn't know how much I would gain. I feel that way about having another child--it seems pretty scary in some ways but I'm sure that if we choose to do it someday I'll look back at my worries and they will seem a little silly.

Our trouble in getting out of the house isn't really all the stuff it's the psychological barrier of the three flights of stairs. Easy to go down, a PITA to come back up. So I tend to cluster my stuff into bigger outings and those of course are more unmanageable than several short ones. Now that I've realized what I'm doing I'm working to counteract it.

We slept in until 8:30 this morning because we were up in the night. The third canine is finally making it's appearance.
: So, no nap because she wasn't ready for it until 4pm. Then the next couple hours were hairy because she was so freakin' tired. Didn't help that I sprained an ankle falling off the slide at the playground this morning. (I need a more fitting username, no?
) But oh was she cheerful when we got up this morning which just proves the whole problem is not quite enough sleep. So my resolve is therefore strengthened to keep working on it.

Congrats Erin on the smooth nap, hope today was also good!
 
#58 ·
We had another smooth nap day today.


Have a great vacation Queenie!

Sandi ~ Happy Anniversary!! What a great milestone!!!


Darn. Squeaker wants me. I've been snuggling him on the couch since 7 and just handed him off to DH so I could have a couple of minutes on MDC. Oh well...he's not having it and I'm not in the mood to juggle him while nak-ing so time for me to log off.

Hey - Has anyone heard from Seedling lately??? She hasn't been around in a couple of months. Hope she's doing ok.
 
#62 ·
I'm still having a hard time beliving that our kids are (almost) two.
:

Saturday I tried to help BooBah get dressed-- this is a *big* nono, you'd think I'd know it by now, but I keep trying to help her. She finally stepped back away from me and said, "I do it by mysewf. You watch!" and then pulled her dress over her head and her bloomers up. Then she stood up rather haughtily and said, "I put my dress on backwards," for all the world like she had intended to do it that way, and did we dare say a word about it? Part of me wanted to laugh, but mostly I was in shock. She was just so funny about it all. A few minutes later she said, "I will fix my dress," and she stood up and did it, but it had to be on her own terms. God forbid anyone interferes!
She's a total riot.
 
#64 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by eilonwy
I'm still having a hard time beliving that our kids are (almost) two.
:

Saturday I tried to help BooBah get dressed-- this is a *big* nono, you'd think I'd know it by now, but I keep trying to help her. She finally stepped back away from me and said, "I do it by mysewf. You watch!" and then pulled her dress over her head and her bloomers up. Then she stood up rather haughtily and said, "I put my dress on backwards," for all the world like she had intended to do it that way, and did we dare say a word about it? Part of me wanted to laugh, but mostly I was in shock. She was just so funny about it all. A few minutes later she said, "I will fix my dress," and she stood up and did it, but it had to be on her own terms. God forbid anyone interferes!
She's a total riot.
BooBah & Lily are very similar little people. Her favorite phrase is "ME DO SELF!" God forbid anyone try and help that child or get in her way when she has plans. Her new trick is taking her diaper off when it's poopy.
The problem is... she doesn't tell us she's doing it. She'll quietly go upstairs into her room and do it. Friday dh found her w/ her diaper off and poop all over the floor. Man I hope she decides to use the potty full time SOON!

Times up!
 
#65 ·
Thanks for the birthday wishes! We had a long day as we had to take our car in to be repaired this morning, but I think she had a good birthday anyway. We took her to the zoo in the afternoon.

R's big bid for independence is not wanting to ride in the stroller ever, or any form of carrier. She will ask to be carried when she's overdone it, but lose her marbles when I try to shift her into anything at all that doesn't kill my back.

Belated Happy Birthday, Flora! Hope it was a good one!
 
#66 ·
Oooohhhh, I just accidentally deleted my post!
: I sold my PA property in three days, but it will of course take a few weeks to get the money, and I am still working nonstop on this house, and we should be going to contract on the new house soon, and I have nothing interesting to say. Here is my current house! http://www.expertrealty.com/HomeDeta...ListingId=9910 It is very strange to have pictures of my house on the web!

Reading Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning! And I am thinking of moving his crib back to a crib position in the room, and ending the side-carred arrangement. This way when he wakes I will of necessity be out of the bed, and cannot fall into the trap of nursing in bed, for hours of intermittent clutching and shrieking as I try to escape, or interrupted dozing. When nursing in bed works, it's lovely, but when the time has passed, it's awful!
 
#67 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by LizD
When nursing in bed works, it's lovely, but when the time has passed, it's awful!
Amen to that! Every night I say I'm going to sleep with dd in her room so I can start nightweaning ds. Every night I end up sleeping in my bed and nursing half the night. He spent 3 nights with my mom and slept through the night there. He slept in bed with my mom and dd. Why can't he do that here?
 
#68 ·
I wish that I could nurse Bella lying down; I really miss that. BooBah was the easiest nursling ever, and I really got used to having it easy. Those were the days...


Miss "I do it by mysewf!" has been spending lots of time on the toilet lately, all of her own accord. I'm so unbelievably happy about this that I really want to throw her a party.
Or maybe I want to throw *me* a party.
Not only is BooBah working hard to get out of diapers, but Bella is big enough to wear the medium covers that I have and premium prefolds without looking ridiculous. I still end up putting wool over her covers a lot of the time because her legs are still a bit skinny, but in another month I may not need to do that anymore.
I can hardly believe that I'll be putting the infant prefolds away soon!

Another girl that I used to babysit for (now 19) just had a baby; a little boy. I didn't get to meet him today, because I had to get the kids home early for their new bedtime. Apparently his mother is gung-ho to nurse the baby, and they're both doing well; she and her boyfriend are both working and living with their own parents so that they can save money and buy a house. I feel unbelievably old; I changed this little girl's diapers, for crying out loud, and tonight she's changing her baby's diapers. I thought I was a grownup when my best friend had jury duty, but today I feel really, really old...
: (I love that smilie!)
 
#69 ·
Happy Birthdays to all these big kids!

Has anyone figured out what happened to Julie? Her name was "mattjule," right? I can't find it in the members list. I suppose I'll try snail mail at this point, unless someone knows what happened....

I fell into the hideous dozing trap again because I could not get up after only two hours of sleep. I did make him go back to sleep on my chest with a bottle, because I could not bear to nurse him. A few hours later when he woke was when the cycle began, but I needed the rest. The only way I got him off me was to tell him we had to make his birthday cake!
 
#70 ·
:
:
to James, Flora and Rossignel! I can't believe our babies are turning two. Ds's speech has really taken off the last few weeks. He's saying sentences all the time and he speaks very clearly. So cute!

Liz, as far as I know, nobody has heard from Julie (mattjule). She hasn't posted to the Yahoo group. Seedling seems to be missing as well.
Mummoth hasn't been around much either. It seems we're dropping like flies.
 
#71 ·
I went back into an old thread to look for Julie's posts when I couldn't find her on the members list, and she's now listed as a guest. There's an option in the profile to email her but I did not try it. Maybe we can try emailing directly from the email in the yahoo list? It's sad to see people go.

R is refusing to wear diapers and won't pee in the potty, though she is very fascinated by her poop and pee. I should just let her pee in her clothes/on the floor, right? She's trying to learn about her body, I think. Anyone have good resources to point me to on potty learning? She's very stubborn and I feel like I am doing everything wrong.

DH slept on an air mattress last night because R was telling him to get out of bed the night before and kicking him. We are just stress monkeys around here trying to get his academic year wrapped up and he needs his sleep and we thought this was the fastest way to get him some, but it is not a permanent solution.

I feel so distant from my tantruming, kicking child the last couple weeks. I love independent little children and the fact that she's growing up, but boy do I feel like I am the worst mother ever making every single possible mistake lately.

Oh yeah, and I let her take a three hour nap yesterday which ruined bedtime so she was ubercranky when I woke her up at 7 this morning. Just shoot me now or send over Supernanny, even she might do a better job these days.
 
#72 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Balancin1
I feel so distant from my tantruming, kicking child the last couple weeks. I love independent little children and the fact that she's growing up, but boy do I feel like I am the worst mother ever making every single possible mistake lately.

Oh yeah, and I let her take a three hour nap yesterday which ruined bedtime so she was ubercranky when I woke her up at 7 this morning. Just shoot me now or send over Supernanny, even she might do a better job these days.

: I've got a better idea-- how about you and I trade places for a few days? Kids often respond better to people who aren't their parents, and BeanBean's been a demon today... I felt ridiculously close to trying to stuff him into a FedEx box and shipping him somewhere, just to get him out of my hair.
:
 
#76 ·
: Happy birthday, Rowan!

So this morning, BooBah went to use the toilet (as she has been doing every morning for the past week, yay BooBah!) but unlike most mornings, she pooped. When she finished, she wiped and flushed and washed her hands... but she only wiped the front!
Whoops!
Silly BooBah! I didn't notice until a few minutes later, because she sat down in front of me to get her ponytails. When she stood up, there was poop in front of me!
: I was feeling better today, though, so I just laughed.
 
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