November '04 mamas - March '07 thread

Congratulations Alisha

Will check in later with updates on us..

Congratulations Alisha!!!

We are going through a major not listening phase right now. It's very frustrating. We are also taking our shoes off constantly. Every time we go anywhere in the car, in every restaurant, if she ever rides in the stroller or carrier. Frustrating! :

Congratulations, Alisha! I'm so happy for you!

The plague has descended on the casa de Polomsky. For Livi, it has ended in her first ear infection and her first antibiotics since birth. For me, it is still going but is ending with pink eye. DH just came down with it today, so we're waiting to see what happy ending he gets.

Livi seems to have made a developmental leap all of the sudden. Isn't it funny how that happens? It is always overnight instead of something gradual like you would expect. She is building the most impressive block towers! Her speech is still behind, but all of the lights are on and she is making progress. I suspect by 3 she'll be completely caught up. I taught her how to say "Yeehaw!", and really, what more does one need to say?

I can't wait until summer. Can't. Wait.

Just out of curiosity, am I the only mom who doesn't let her child wear sandals or flip flops with bare feet when it is 50 degrees?

Enough procrastinating. Back to work. Sigh.

Hola! Back finally..I've been sick with a tummy bug yet again and couldn't cope with typing this morning..
Sophie, too, is in a not listening phase, which isn't fun..and she is constantly disrobing and forget about shoes..we're resorting to overalls right now so she can't get them off. Earlier she took off her dress and diaper and peed on the floor. sigh.
I went away for a weekend with hopes that she'd wean at least some..nope..not even..her first sight of me, she said, "Nursh!". I feel like I'm just giant boobs to this kid!
Not much else happening here..she is a firecracker and ppl love her wherever we go because she flirts

Sophie tends to say "I do poopy" when she has or when she's very wet, luckily she doesn't remove it every time, though she did yesterday..what a mess!

Lately I chase her around with clothing..it's getting to be rather keystone kop

hi all, and yay alisha, congratulations! another november baby, how cool.

i'm coming down the home stretch with this one--i'll be 37 weeks on tuesday! aiee! this pregnancy has *flown* by; i really can't believe it.

hazel's doing mostly well: she's drawing like crazy and having lots of fun, but boy is she strong willed! i'm secretly glad, but it makes things like getting dressed really tough. today went okay with a fine-line combination of zero fit-throwing tolerance and many choices of what to wear. agh. i'm over being terrified of life with a toddler and newborn, though, mostly because so many people around me are doing it, so it must be at least physically possible, right?

we had a brief breech scare (all hail my chiropractor, who has turned this baby TWICE, once at 32 weeks and again at 35), and an even briefer heart arrhythmia scare--had to go get an echocardiogram for an irregular heartbeat, but it had resolved by the time we did it, whew. so now i'm just enjoying the last pregnant moments of my life and having many small "wow, right now" epiphanies. if that makes any sense.

*jennifer

You'll do find Jennifer. I'm sure of it. I'm glad all is well with your pregnancy and I hope you are able to enjoy these last few weeks of just one child. I didn't actually think the beginning was that hard since you just sling and nurse them all the time. Otherwise, they are sleeping. They hardly get in the way the first few months of life. Once they start staying awake more and needing more interaction, that's when it gets tougher having a toddler around as well. But you're kids will be 2.5 years apart and that's a pretty good age gap. Let us know when you go into labor, if you can!

Bronwynn has been a trip lately. Constant screaming battles. For example, I ask if she wants orange juice or milk and she says milk. As I get the milk out of the fridge, she'll change her mind and say orange juice. So, I get out the orange juice and put it in her sippy, but by the time I'm finished filling it, she's screaming at me that she wants milk. This happens at least a dozen times a day, probably more. It just drives me crazy!

And the binky is a bit of a challenge lately. She's not ready to give it up, but I've been trying to get her to use it less, like not when we are out and about. And I also refuse to remember to take it with us anywhere. If she forgets it, she's out of luck. But when she does forget it and I don't have one, she goes into crazy screaming mode. It's quite awful. I guess it's probably just a phase.

Oh, and I think she knows daddy is leaving soon (deploying end of April) because she all of a sudden is acting like she hates him. She screams if he touches her and yells no and puts her hands over her ears if he tries to talk to her.

I hope this gets better soon.

I think it must be the age..Sophie is very contrary like that with us, too. I forgot to mention she is no longer calling herself Baby..now she is O-Fee. Very cute.

You will be OK Jennifer..it takes some adjusting, there's no question, but you will be surprised at what a baby expert you are this time around..

Well, Tom is off making my new favorite food (Falafel) so I'm gonna go sniff the kitchen. The kids have the big D today so we've been cooped up and I feel so OFF from the time change..here it's almost 7 and it's LIGHT out..

Y'know rachel...when you have more than one kid..you just deal Most of parenting is on the job training, anyway. You just do it. Children grow out of this phase for the most part, but through their whole lives they test their limits and boundaries and it's the parents job to set and hold the boundaries..sometimes you have to "force" the child to do the thing they are resisting and live with the screaming.

It's funny..Bill Cosby once said, "Parent's don't want JUSTICE, they want QUIET!" and that's so true for those of us who have trained ourselves to respond to every cry..we react somehow to quiet them, not to make them cry more. When they are 2 and don't have complex understanding, we can't reason with them, yk? You have to deal. If baba isn't available, that's too bad, but the child still has to do the task/get dressed, whatever, so you do it and you comfort them when it's done.

I hope that doesn't sound harsh..I'm not a gentle discipline/natural consequences kind of gal, but I don't believe in hitting/spanking, either. I just think that discipline is a very important piece and it's hard to get it going when you've done nothing but take care of their needs for the first year or more, yk? I struggle too, even with my 4th child!

We're also in a big "not listening" phase. Well. Hrm. It's not so much "not listening." She hears me perfectly well. She's just independent (when she's not being super clingy) and wants to do things all by herself and in her own way.

Which led to her cracking a raw egg all over my freshly cooked breakfast this morning when I turned around to pick up her brother. : 'Cause she was "helping, mama!"

After about 3 incidents like that, I called a do-over to the day. Because I love my child. And I really *don't* want to strangle her. We're going to spend the afternoon running around outside making mud pies.