Big Brothers & Big Sisters Check-in

[obscurereference]

Age: dd1 is 4. DS is 2.

Challenges: dd1 is really testing her limits. She pushes and pushes and then finds herself in her room with all the fun stuff taken away and then she throws a fit. Of course this is usually right before bedtime when I'm at my wits end.
DS is just now starting to tantrum. He doesn't cry and scream. He knocks stuff over and tries to beat me up. Fun.

Achievements: dd1 is loving school, her speech is getting so much better - she actually tested average for the first time! Woohoo! (She has only really been talking for about a year.)
DS's speech is also taking off. He's putting two and even three words together and really trying to talk in sentences. He's so happy when we understand what he's trying to say.

Other: gymnastics is going really well. Both the kids love it so far. Dd1 is so good at following instructions and DS is just loving the experience. I highly recommend!

[obscurereference]

DoesItComeInPink My DS is really shy, too. Can you do a mommy and me class or something? That's pretty much why I'm doing gymnastics with him. To see if I can get him out of his shell a bit before starting preschool next fall.

[COCO]

Age: 3 yrs

Challenges: his listening skills could use some improvement I worry he is too rough with DD. He constantly grabs and pulls her. Even thought I've told him 26384939382 times don't grab/pull her, use gentle hands, try to do X instead, etc he is still rough.

Achievements: he's just amazing. He carries conversations with me (and anyone who will listen... not shy in the slightest) and is super curious about everything. It so fun to hear what he's thinking and see what interest him. It makes my day when he dances or sings.

Other: DH works from 8:30-6 pm and I don't know what to do with DS during that time. We play outside. Reads books. Run errands. Eat. But he still ends up on the iPad way more than I'd like. Especially in the afternoon when DD naps and I usually do dishes, get dinner started, etc.

[obscurereference]

COCO You know my lyfe. I feel like my 4 yo has actually gotten progressively less gentle as the baby has become more interactive and mobile. I have to say gentle a million times a day, too. I've actually caught her carrying the baby short distances....I think I was stern enough to shut that one down.

I also understand not having enough to do. Is he home all day? Have you looked into part time preschool? Mine just loved school and they do so many things that I could never do or provide for her. I was going to keep her home because of the cost, but decided to go for it because she was so far behind on speech at the time. It was the best decision and I will be sending DS next year even though he doesn't have a speech delay. The socialization and learning is just something I can't provide right now with two littles at home.

[obscurereference]

PS. I'm also of the mind that iPads are not that bad. There are some really great learning apps out there and I believe it enhances their learning. My kids love the Curious George app. I'm not sure what it's called but it's puzzles that match shapes, colors, and there's some tracing as well. Kindle also has some really really great apps. DD1 loves all the coloring stuff. I think tablets are preferable to TV if you've got good apps!

[crinita]

Tell us how your D15 siblings are doing!

Age: 3 in Oct

Challenges: Being a threenager- challenging authority, testing boundaries, whining, arguing. Sibling jealousy sometimes results in pushing and subsequent time outs. She knows how to push my buttons! We are still working on getting her to sleep in her own bed.

Achievements: Verbally becoming much more advanced, and she's going to start dance classes in Oct! I am so excited for her. She loves helping me bake, likes gardening, and overall is a good and loving sister. She sometimes sleeps in her own bed, which is major progress from a year ago when we were still cosleeping and nursing at night while I was pregnant.

Other: Whenever I start thinking that we aren't making progress, I just remind myself to think about where we were just 1 year ago...

[Deleted]

Age: 3 next month

Challenges: +1 for a stubborn threenager here. If we ask him to do something he will say no just because we ask. It's even worse when we tell him sternly. He does like to be a "big helper" though so sometimes asking him if he'd like to be a big helper and do X will do the trick. Not always. He is also fighting naps more often too. He definitely still needs them though and I don't think he quite understands the concept of just quietly sitting in his room.

Achievements: I shared in the other thread but I think he is pretty much potty trained! I'm excited but it is kind of more stressful now because instead of making sure we have diapers, I have to make sure we are not going to be somewhere without a toilet nearby! I've started just throwing his little potty in the backseat every time we go somewhere. He is also talking so much more. I still feel like we can't have real conversations but he is regularly using 3-4 word complete sentences. Such a huge change from the 5 words he knew in January.

Other: The two of them are "playing" together quite a bit more and it is so fun to watch.

[spidermonkeymama]

Age: (almost) 5- in a month
Challenges: the 'tude, anxiety, listening skills, doing her own thing
Achievements: she's survived the summer
Other: we start kindergarten on Monday. hold me. Tight.

[HelgaHuffle]

Age: 3

Challenges: He never listens, whines often, hardly eats, pushes all the limits. His attitude and independent play had improved so much during the last few weeks but last weekend was horrible. Wouldn't play with anything and was whining and misbehaving tons. Now he's sick, so I'm hoping that it was caused by him feeling bad.

@obsurereference and COCO We also have a lot of roughness with the baby. Same situation with us too, he was very gentle until R started being more mobile/active. Now I have to watch them like a hawk all the time. When R first started sitting up, F would just push him over. Now R pretty much cries if F touches him. Sigh...

Achievements: He's such a little person now! We can have big conversations. He's so curious and observant. I love getting glimpses into his mind when he asks smart questions out of no where.

[baylorbear]

Age: Almost 2 and 1/2

Challenges: We are in the middle of potty training and she has definitely been successful sometimes but not other times so we are working on it. She is a little behind in talking too although we just had her evaluated and they said she is normal for everything so we will wait and see.

Achievements: She is better at going poop on the potty than pee so I'm taking that as a win right now. She is such a sweet girl and while she has never been jealous of her sister, she didn't really acknowledge her the first few months. This worked out well because I didn't really have to worry about her bothering her sister if I was in the other room. Now she loves her and includes her in everything, it is so sweet to watch. I just love that they try to "talk to each other" and she is so so good about sharing her toys or trading toys and sharing her snacks.

Other:DoesItComeInPink my dd is extremely shy too and just at 18 months stopped crying at people in the store or when people came to visit. She is definitely better now but definitely something we are trying to balance as well.

[COCO]

Aug 23, 2016 14:41:37 GMT -5 obscurereference said:

COCO Is he home all day? Have you looked into part time preschool? Mine just loved school and they do so many things that I could never do or provide for her. I was going to keep her home because of the cost, but decided to go for it because she was so far behind on speech at the time. It was the best decision and I will be sending DS next year even though he doesn't have a speech delay. The socialization and learning is just something I can't provide right now with two littles at home.

I was working up until 2 months ago when we moved out of state. DS spent part of his time with nanny and the remainder of his time in a preschool program. So lots of activity, socialization, stimulation, play. I know it's been a big change for him (and all of us) to be in a small apartment with me and his sister all day. I signed him up for a part time preschool program that starts next week (woo hoo!!). Like you, originally I signed up for only 3 days of week to save on cost. I have since changed it to five days per week bc, like you said, there's experiences he gets there that I cannot provide at home.

I agree, iPad has its place. I let him spend way too much time on it. I'm too embarrassed to quantify it

[christina]

Age: 3 years old

Challenges: spending too much time on her tablet. At least it's mostly educational apps.

Achievements: Her language has been exploding and she's almost caught up to where she should be.

Other: She starts preschool next Monday. How did my baby become old enough to go to school?