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September 2004 Mamas, welcoming July!

2K views 67 replies 16 participants last post by  JenInMpls 
#1 ·
Ribbit Ribbit
Rabbit Rabbit

I hope July finds all of you happy!
 
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#7 ·
subbing...

I feel so huge and I am just barely half-way there! Oi! I finally got around to uploading all my belly pics so far, here's the link in case you want a peek:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...b&x=0&y=ggoe5q

Also, some recent pics of the little man:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...z&x=0&y=rrngz9

I've been so engrossed in this pregnancy since finding out its twins, so I apologize for my lack of postings. I have been reading along

We've now got a million projects going on in anticipation for the babes - buying a bigger vehicle, finishing the basement, buying furniture for V's big boy room, interviewing care providers to find the best choice so that we can have a natural birth, etc...
I am feeling good overall - just hungry all the time. V is such a sweet boy - everyday he kisses my belly and talks/sings to the babies. I began pulling up his baby stuff from the basement and he gets all excited
As you can tell from the pics, he's been doing really well with swimming lessons. I found a private instructor that comes to our subdivision's pool. He LOVES the pool - asks everyday to go. I've been enjoying floating myself around too, very relaxing.

Hope you all have a happy and safe 4th! We will be staying in town, our neighbors across the street are having a BBQ, so we'll head over there. And then the dads will be lighting off fireworks in our cul-de-sac! Should be fun!!!
 
#8 ·
Christine: I love V's red hair! And his water capabilities make me so jealous! I didn't learn how to swim until I was 22, and I still can't manage more than a doggie paddle or floating. I went snorkling with a vest on!
: Give me a mask, though, and I can swim forever.
Last time I had Elizabeth in the water, she had a life vest on and wouldn't let me let her go.
 
#13 ·
Happy July! I'm in the thick of it at work (student housing) - all of our leases ended last week and we're getting ready for the 1st new batch to come in on Sunday. Guess who gets to work through 2 weekends and even the 4th of July...

Christine, I concur that your belly is beautiful!
 
#14 ·
Hi everyone! Christine, that is so exciting about your twin pregnancy! I'm still so excited for you -- and lovely belly!!!

I don't have long, but we're back from the fish site today and probably tomorrow as long as they don't emergency open it. We have a pregnant friend coming over in a minute and I"m sure I'll get baby fever. Ha ha. And I already have two!
'Doh!!

xoxox
 
#15 ·
Hello ladies!
I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a safe and happy holiday... hope the little ones all enjoy the fireworks!

We are doing pretty well here, Mielle has gone a few days in a row now without vomitting and seems to be back to her usual self. We have started her on a prescription for treating acid reflux.. I guess it is the same thing given to babies with GERD. The current theory is that she has developed reflux from all the vomitting and her tummy needs to heal... It's a trial prescription and while I am not thrilled to have her taking meds... she's not barfing, so I guess I'll wait it out a while. I plan on having a long talk with her doc after he gets back from vacation. Anyway, that's that.

It's been super hot and sweaty here and I find myself wishing for air conditioning... old farm house with windows open = hot sweaty babies napping in their diapers, while fans run.

Love to all
 
#16 ·
hi ladies, happy fourth (tho I'm not too happy about how things are goin' in this country....) to all of you.

Lulu is a pip and a half. First she is a ballerina. then she is an astronaut. then back to the ballerina. this is her days!

We haven't even contemplated "potty learning" and she shows no interest. But school starts this fall, so we will probably do a bottemless week of no diapers and see how that goes. the school is very flexible about accidents, etc. so there is no pressure. Nice.

gingy is 11 months old ... and has got her LOUD vibe going! she's such a little leo. Quite evolved from the smiley, silent cherub of the first ten months. Finding her voice!! That's the speciality of our house... letting people and animals find their voice.
It makes for chaos and ruckus but boy, it sure feels healthy.

its rainy here and we're stuck indoor today. i don't mind, all I want to do is sleep and read novels. And guess what? I did (or at least for a couple of hours) while my DH watched the girls!! don't hate me cause I'm married to a great guy! (I'm actually still in recovery from the first winter with two tiny kids.... whew.)



Liz
ps .... zen, what's going on, where are ya??? do you have eli with you? or are you
TOTALLy child free?

forgot to add: on sunday night we went to see the big Kingston fireworks, just me and Lulu, staying out til 1030pm!! We went to a great party just us two girls together and then I held her in my arms as the huge fireworks went off over the city. It was such a special day... one of those times you KNOW you will never, ever forget.
 
#17 ·
Hey ya'll -

Hope everyone had a great Fourth! We spent the day around the house - clint fixing and cleaning, me cooking (and watching the marathon of Project Runway when i could
), went for a short walk together, then went to our local community parade. it's a Pied Piper parade, which I'd never been to before. Basically there were a few floats and bands, but most of the parade was local kids and families on bikes, scooters, wagons, and strollers. Everyone decorated their ride and joined in the parade. It was a great, laid back parade for little ones, and if we're here next year I'm planning for us to join in - Robin on a bike or big wheel and Eli in the stroller. There were also a few jumpers and a big inflatable slide for the kids, which robin enjoyed. We opted not to stay for the fireworks, hoping we could see them from our house - but could just barely see through the trees. Robin was thrilled with some sparklers this year. We saw *so* many fireworks in china I thought she might be disappointed with the sparklers, but didn't happen. (in china, we were often woken int he morning by firecrackers, they were set up at least twice a week in our neighborhood)

DId I tell you guys about our new playground equipment? WE've long lusted after one of those big wooden sets, but never wanted to spend the money. Our friends who clint was staying with b/f we moved bought a big one used off craigs list - but she works with a divorce attorney and a man she was divorcing wanted to sell his set so she bought it also. So they gave us the bigger playground for the price of the cheaper one - so we paid $500 for a playset that was originally over $4000. It's fully loaded with playhouse, slide, monkeybars, climbing board, climbing wall, 2 ladders, tire swing, 2 trapezes, 2 swings, 2 baby swings and an "air pogo" jumping swing. Now we just need some friends to come over and play with her!

we're going this morning to check out a preschool we might send robin to next fall. But I'm actually hoping we'll work things out with a different school. There's a local co-op preschool that borrows curricullum from waldorf and 2 others, but the tuition is over our heads. I met a woman when I was doing childcare volunteering last week to whom I was complaining about the costs of the best programs - and she knew the director of the co-op who was attending the conference. the director ended up coming in the children's area to volunteer and we were introduced, and I was commenting on my disappointment at the tuition, and she said, "well, we're trying to find a 2 day a week teacher for the 2 year olds, you should apply." So now I'm applying for that position and will interview next week. It would mean getting a sitter for Eli for 2 mornings a week, which I hate the idea of. But hopefully I could get free tuition for robin and make enough to pay for the sitter. On the other hand, I love the idea of working for the co-op, and I was super excited about the school before I figured out we couldn't afford it. And the director seems to really like me and thinks I have th "co-op spirit" so I'm hopeful it will work out. I also met a sitter while doing volunteer work who is young and energetic, so i have a possibility there. So, keep your fingers crossed for me! I am also applying for the technical college, but that would be in the evening after clint is home from work.
 
#18 ·
Hello, ladies, happy July!

Whew, things have been CRAZY around here for the last few months! I have been running teas, taking teenagers and my kids on campouts, dh had 3 funerals back to back (like in one week) and Andrew is in full bore tantrum mode lately and ignoring everything I ask him to say and REFUSING to do anything himself (like, apparently he can not open the drawer to get out his pants, climb up the ladder to use the slid, pull up his underwear, take off his shoes . . . all things I KNOW he can do, but he just says "no. YOU do it" and runs away) and Aaron is in the midst of getting his two bottom teeth and is NOT a happy teether (although he is sitting, so that's cool). And with a few breif exceptions he's still attatched to my hip permanently. I seriously have to say "walk, walk, walk!" if I want to get out the door with the car seat, because Andrew doesn't want to walk in front of me through the door, he wants to walk NEXT to me holding onto my hand or my shirt. I can't even teach him to ride his tricycle because he wants to hold my hand while riding it!

Anyway, so i haven't been keeping up because of all the craziness. Sorry, ladies.

So, I have a question: Is Andrew seriously behind in his independence? Both of his friends his age (both girls) can dress themselves and ride their bikes and are totally comfortable being seperate from their parents. I feel like he's so dependent he's starting to fall behind in his abilities and he stubbornly resists any effort on my part to teach him things. Is he the only one who is not dressing himself, riding a bike, starting to be more independent, etc?

I guess its just that I always remember, even when I was three, getting up, dressed and getting my breakfast by myself with no adults even awake in the house.
 
#19 ·
Anna: So glad to hear that Mielle is one the mend!

Liz: I wish I had half the imagination of the little ones (and a quarter of their energy, too!)!

Jilly: I think it's a stage. As long as he *can* do it, that's all that matters (to me at least
). Elizabeth can do all those things, but I still do it for her. She insists that I pull her pants up and put on her socks, and it's difficult for her to do those things, but every other day I tell her to try. Today she actually said to herself after she peed on the potty, "I am going to pull my own shorts and fancy panties up. Myself." And the next thing I know she is showing me what she did, shorts and panties all bunched up and her shirt tucked into them.
And for the record, she cannot (as far as I know) get herself dressed. I just do it for her.

Becca: Sounds like a cute parade. When I was younger, my parents bought an *early retirement home* in a pretty rural part of Indiana. My father took my brother to the parade for the 4th in the closest town, and it was exactly as you describe. Now, where we live in indiana, there is a huge parade, it's between two and three hours long, so this little one was pretty disappointing to him!

I took E to the parade, and since my uncle is the mayor of our town, we got to sit in the grandstand in front of City Hall. There are food and beverages available inside for those who are invited (nothing like having a beer paid for by the city at 10am!
). E spent time with her cousins, catching candy for them (I did let E have a piece of candy yesterday since she was working so hard
: ).

About halfway through the parade, E told me she wanted yippies, and I was totally shocked! She never wants to
when we're out. So we went inside, I gave her yippies that lasted for all of six seconds, and she wanted some more food. I got her some food, and we sat at a table while she ate. In the mean time, I'm talking with my councilman, and this guy (Daniel) comes up and sits right next to E. They start talking (because E is the friendliest to strangers) and I am watching them out of the corner of my eye. He wrote his name on a name tag and asked her to read it (I'm like HUH???).

Anyway, he was *all up in her grill* (
: sorry, it's truly the best way to describe it) and I am more than a little freaked out about it. I asked my uncle who this guy is, and he's the city janitor (cleans City Hall, washes police cars, etc.). Nice. The city janitor has an unhealthy interest in little girls.

I went outside and told my aunt to keep an eye on her three girls because this guy was just not right. I can't quite put my finger on why, but my Jungle Mama instinct went haywire. I told my brother and his friends to please keep one eye on E along with me (I figure safety in numbers) because I feel that this guy, well, the wheel's spinning, but the hamster's dead.

Today of course I'm getting paranoid about it! I'm thinking that he could possibly get our information (except all he knows about us is E's first name) because of where he does his work. But then I talked to a friend of mine, and as soon as I told him the story he knew exactly who I was talking about. Seems my friend's brother has dealt with Daniel before because he works on the police cars, so when he takes them back to the station he runs into Daniel. My friend is under the impression that Daniel is a nutjob from what his brother says. So I feel a little better, maybe because he's weird all the time or maybe he just relates to children better than people, but I have this ache in the pit of my stomach that says, "Lock your doors and windows!"

We went to a party after the parade and E just dazzled everyone around her. I, too, have found a babysitter if I ever need one (a good friend of my cousin's and a fifth grade teacher), and E had both males and females falling all over her. She was quite the social butterfly! As rough as I am on myself on how quickly I go from talking to yelling, I know that I am doing a pretty darn good job (if I do say so myself
) raising E. She has manners, speaks well, learns from others, and she teaches them some, too.

She also held her first sparklers.
:

After all that babble, tomorrow E, my cousins (ages 26, 13, 11, and 9), and I are going to a dairy farm. It's going to be quite fun! The website says, "From grass to glass" so I'm hoping I won't have to get all PETA on their asses because they are cruel to the animals!
I'll make my cousin take pictures if I start a protest or something!
 
#20 ·
if they're pastured cows and they're bottling in glass, I'm guessing they are probably good to their cows... maybe not to the extreme of the farmer at the St Paul Farmer's Market who, if you pause for more than a second at his stand, starts showing you his photo album of all of his Jersey cows and telling you about each one by name - very excitedly...
 
#21 ·
Jilly - good to hear from you - hope things calm down soon. I think Robin is one of the more "accelerated" kids her age. Dress herself - not with any accuracy! UNdress herself - like a champ! She can try to pull her panties/shorts up after the potty, but only pulls the front so the back knots up. She does "help" me get her dressed by putting her arms through the sleeves, etc. But she can't do it alone. She's pretty good at her shoes - but she actually learned that in her Chinese preschool b/c the teachers evidently taught her how to put her shoes and coat on for going outside (and putting her coat on involves laying it out on the floor upside down, then putting her hands in the sleves and flipping it over her head). Riding a bike - she's starting to work on it, starting to understand how the pedals work. She'll probly get one for her birthday. Being independent - yeppers. But when we are in new places and with new people, she wants me to be htere, help her talk to people, etc. then when she's figured it out, she's happy to play on her own. she just comes back to me when she needs help with something. But like I said, she's more independent than other same-aged kids we know (but also very social - so when we are alone she wants to play with me for companionship, not b/c she needs me persay). I agree that if he *can* do it, I wouldn't fret. and you can set limits - like if you don't want to climb the ladder for the slide, you don't really want to slide very badly. Maybe offer to "spot" him a few times, but don't pick him up and put him at the top. I know it's hard to muster enthusiasm when you are frustrated and worn out, but if you can make these things a game, does that help? Or make him your "helper" - I get robin to hold the door for me just to get her to go through it ahead of me. SHe loves being so handy.

Samantha - Small farmers are usually pretty good with their cows - they have a lot invested in each one, so they treat them well. Hope you have a fun trip.

About the janitor guy - bear in mind that in many cases those jobs are filled by people with developmental delays who, if judged by "normal" standards may seem creepy or weird, but really just don't have the same social skills. And, developmentally delayed people often love and enjoy children (partly b/c young kids don't judge, partly b/c in many ways the individual is a young person in an older body), and don't really have realistic understandings of what children can/cannot do. We have met delayed people who have touched robins face, baby talked her even though she was speaking in sentences, asked what grade she was in, etc. From another person, this would annoy me, but the folks who did these things were just trying to "play" with her. And sadly many people interpret developmental or intellectual disabilities as mental illness or being crazy. My brother has developmental delays (due to birth injury, cord asphixiation), and for years worked as a bagboy/stocker in a grocery store (also a common job for folks with delays). I'm sure there were customers who thought he was annoying (he's very chatty), and I was always afraid of people making snide comments b/c they were judging him by "normal" expectations for social interactions. I don;t know anything about the guy you met, but from your story the first thing I thougth was that he was probably developmentally delayed.

gotta run! have a great weekend everybody!
 
#22 ·
hi guys,

i think some of the independence thing is personality too. in most ways lilah is sooooo much more independent than noah was at her age. she loves to be in group settings and loves to meet new people so she is very independent in that regard. noah was never like that at 2.5+. she can sort of dress herself, kind of. she can put shirts on- sometimes but more often than not they are backwards. pants? sometimes. socks? no way! and she's still in diapers, though when we were having a moment of potty learning the other day she did put her underpants on by herself.
she has just- this week- learned how to pedal and steer on her tricycle. it is so darn cute! i think part of her independence is also that she is a second child so she is always wanting to keep up with noah and his buddies.

becca, wow it sounds like you have so much cool stuff going on- cool job possibilities, cool preschool possibilities, great new swingset! yay for you guys! i am about to check out craigslist for a swingset. i really want a nice big wooden one for my kiddos but don't want to spend thousands. we shall see where that goes.

anna, i am so glad that mielle is feeling better. that is interesting about the reflux meds. i have noticed that whenever i puke a lot (stomach bug or m/s) that it takes me awhile to not puke at the drop of a hat. ugh. no a/c! i can't even imagine that here in the south. the heat is really kicking my butt this summer.

jen, how are you doing?

as for school, lilah went to preschool last year 2 mornings a week and LOVED it. she still talks about it all the time and totally misses her teachers, her buddies, and her classroom. somehow we lucked into finding a really awesome program in a church that we weren't even members of. it was associated with the church but it wasn't heavily religious. noah started there when he was almost 2 so we had been there for a few years, i was on the board, we all made great friends there and were very sad to leave.
i was/am seriously stressing out about the school year(s) to come now that we have moved. i know for sure that lilah needs to go to preschool this year- for both her sanity and mine- but i was really worried about choosing a preschool without knowing much about it AND since we moved here in mid-april i was afraid that everything would be full. to make a long(er) story shortish it turns out that our ymca has a preschool program at their summer camp site which is a big lovely wooded place just a few miles from our house. we visited and liked it and they had a spot so that is where we're goiing. i think it will be perfectly fine and if i find something better then we'll switch. my main goal of preschool is just that she have fun and make friends and i'm sure that she can do that there.

i am giving myself lots of gray hair over the kindergarten issue for noah though. there is maybe 1 magnet (or charter, i'm not sure which) school in our county and the lottery for that was way over by the time we moved here so that isn't an option even if i knew anything about it. there are a couple of private schools with a somewhat doable commute from us but they are either- (1) already so full there isn't even a waiting list, (2) way out of my price range, (3) severely religious, which we are not, or some combination of the 3. there are not, to my knowledge, any waldorf schools in this area. there are several montessori schools but i'm not sure that is right for noah AND they're either full or were rude to me about why noah hadn't been in montessori already or are too far away. there is a friends school opening this year but it is too $$$, and probably too far. soooo he is going to go to public school. let me say that i always assumed that i would send my kids to public school, until i had kids and really started thinking about it and learning about it. then i started worrying. our neighborhood school in greensboro was really sucky. i visited it and left with a totally bad vibe- for a bunch of different reasons. and i really worry about how big and crowded they are and how they have to teach to the tests and blah, blah blah. noah is very bright (i'm biased i know, but he is!) and i worry that he will be bored. BUT i like the idea of public school for so many reasons- diversity being the main one. sooo the public school here seems nice and it gets good reports from everyone i have talked to so we will see. he is registered and we'll start and i'll be very involved and we'll see how it goes. homeschooling is an option, but not one i'm very excited about. i love that boy to pieces but i just don't think i'm up for homeschooling him (or anybody for that matter!)

phew, that was a novel!

anyway, hi to everybody else. i'd better hit the road.
 
#23 ·
Chrissy -- ugh, school choices... I anticipate the same thing you're going through when Thor is kindergarten aged. Although there won't be as many choices in Homer, AK! I hope something good falls in your lap.

Jilly -- Thor can put his own underware and pants on, but that's it. No way could he put a shirt on, and no socks for sure. He tries to put his own shoes on. Sometimes he can do it. I agree with becca's advice... if he insists that you do everything, you might mention that maybe he doesn't want to do it that badly, or he would do it himself. It is certainly a phase (I'm sure he won't want you to do everything for him when he's 14) but personally I really encourage Thor to do things himself that he can. I don't need to be doing things for him that he can do on his own, and I also think that allowing/encouraging/expecting them to do it themselves teaches a spirit of individual responsibility and high expectations. And Thor totally lives up to it, too. Sometimes I'm a little shocked at what he'll do on his own, actually! The other day he ran half a mile down the beach completely on his own and didn't even look back for me. He was chasing the dogs, and finally I got a little worried and started running after him. About 10 minutes later he turned around and started wandering back, stick in hand, ambling along behind the puppies, talking to himself.


Meg -- woo hooo, you'll be here soon!! Fishing is slow, but they've had lots of 36 hour openings lately. Just no big Kasilof run yet...
 
#24 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by JenInMpls View Post
if they're pastured cows and they're bottling in glass, I'm guessing they are probably good to their cows...
They were most definitely NOT pastured (poor Mama cows lived on sand -- because it's "so easy for them to get up" -- and in feedlots, they were most definitely NOT even fed *grass* (diet consists mostly of corn, and then a few other additions), and even though the bottles of milk say that they use no hormones or antibiotics, there was a part of the museum dedicated to Monsanto! Plus the hours-old cows were not allowed to nurse, they were fed with bottles.


I really tried not to ruin it for the others (really I did
: ), but man, if I ever needed a reason to become a vegan, I now have it!

E did get to see a calf being born and then asked me if the baby cow came out of the Mama cow's butt.


Becca: Thanks for the insight; everything you said makes total sense! I am going to look into it further to see if I overreacted. The feeling this man gave me was not one of having a disability, but one of having an agenda. I have always gotten strong feelings about a person when I meet them, and any time I go against that feeling I get screwed. I just can't take that chance with my child.
 
#25 ·
Samantha; those posts made me laugh! Especially about the beer and the cows. Although I completely understand about the cows- I was absolutely disgusted when I heard the baby cows crying and learned that for us to get milk, they are taken from their mothers and fed formula.
I am still having a hard time finding organic milk that meets my standards. The Co-op gets Cedar Summit milk from Iowa that is good, but we don't drink a lot of milk and it goes bad. I feel like the big brand 'Organic Valley' from CA is probably questionable; although their label assures me they are just as wholesome as apple pie... yeah right. But I'm still no diary, and the rest of the family just uses milk for cereal.


Also, I'm with you on the guy having an agenda. It could be a learning disability, but it didn't really sound like it, to me. It is also possible that he does have both; a disability and an agenda. I don't think you need to change your address, just be wary. I pay very close attention to stuff like that because my sister was molested by my cousin (who is FAS).

Independence: Cecilia walks to her cousins house on her own, naked.
So she's indpendent enough to do that, but not enough to dress herself. I think it all comes with security, and how that's working out for them. Maybe for Aaron, his security comes with having help from Jill. For Cecilia, it's her rubber friends.
For E, it's a little yippie snack on the 4th.
They all have something that helps them feel good. That's okay; they've got lots of time in the big, harsh world without us. At least, that's what I tell myself while Cecilia makes me wipe her buns with a wet wipe.


School: I cringe thinking about sending my kid to the local white-bread, suburban, split-level livin', flag wavin' public school, but I'm pretty sure that's where we are headed. If she doesn't like it, or I can't take it anymore, I'll homeschool and the poor kid will never learn to sit still or wear clothes.


Anna; I know what you mean about the puking. I remember when I was really sick (kidney infection) I had to work really hard to stop throwing up. It was a crazy feeling.... I am so glad Mielle is on the mend.
Poor little peanut.
 
#26 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by midwestmeg View Post
The Co-op gets Cedar Summit milk from Iowa that is good, but we don't drink a lot of milk and it goes bad. I feel like the big brand 'Organic Valley' from CA
Actually, no, Cedar Summit is from MN, just south of us near Shakopee, on the MN river valley. The Minars are the farmers who run it and they are really good people and good to their cows (and they DO pasture their cows!), and their milk is always very fresh. I used to buy it from them off of their truck at the St Paul farmer's market, but now I just buy it at the co-op since they actually deliver more often to the co-op! And Organic Valley is based in La Farge, WI, near Viroqua, and buys their milk from a cooperative of organic farmers. They have fairly high standards - not as high as Cedar Summit because they obviously aren't a one-farm operation - and they're our second choice when it comes to buying milk. I like Cedar Summit's better mostly because I have actually met the Minars and they don't homogenize their milk - in my book, the less processed, the better. We were getting raw milk from MOM's dairy but we got bumped off the list during calving season (since they actually let their cows nurse from their mothers, what a concept!) and I haven't been working really hard to get us back on.

Main Street Dairy is up by you, but a friend who grew up in Sauk Centre told me that they are a drop-feed kind of establishment, and she doesn't support them. I don't think that Camphill Village up by you still has a dairy, or I'd suggest them - but you could check... seems to me I remember them discontinuing their milk a few years ago.

OK, sorry this was off topic for the whole board, but I had to stand up for Cedar Summit.


Chrissy - how am I? Fine, thanks. Hot. I don't care for 90+ with high humidity.

Samantha - I am very sorry for your dairy farm experience
it would have made me very angry, too! Mostly because their motto is a lie.

OK, I am hearing whiny behavior from downstairs which will only escalate into a fight with Jo and her dumping him in the corner, so I am off... xo j
 
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