It's Friday y'all

[iwantbacon]

Friday means so much more to me now that I'm back at work and actually know what day it is again.

How's everyone doing today? My eyes are super bloodshot and I'm hoping I don't have pink eye.

Randoms and FFFC welcome.

[smallpotato]

iwantbacon my left eye was red for a few days this week. I chalked it up to sleeping with my contacts in. I hope it's not pinkeye for you!

It's snowing here but should be ending soon. MH wants to take the lights off the house today since they're now calling for 6 inches of snow tomorrow. We'll have to pick up a few things st the store to get through to Sunday so the boys and I won't have to go out tomorrow. N is at school today so it's just MH, G, and me.

[penguin129]

smallpotato I want to take our Christmas stuff down this weekend too. We're getting cooler weather and won't have to sweat doing it. Florida life. Our garage is in dire need of organization but I can't justify it until the holiday stuff is down. I can barely get through to do the wash. Our laundry room is in the garage.

[jwinct]

iwantbacon - Uh, oh. Hopefully it's not pinkeye!



It's snowing here this morning and the roads are so slick. I can't believe there was no school delay due to how bad the roads are. DH brings DS to my parents' house in the morning and what normally is a 10-15 minute drive took him 40 minutes. It only took me 5 extra minutes to get to work, thankfully.

[penguin129]

HL is napping on me. We have a playdate at the park. It was going to be just 2 mom's and us, but now it looks like 5- 10. I never was bothered by a big crowd before but now I am. Stupid anxiety. I feel like everyone will be judging me and using kid gloves around me. I know that isn't true. Still...

[penguin129]

I need a walking step count app until I can maybe look into getting something better. Recs?

Also does anyone have a pedometer separate from their phone or a fit bit. I think just a pedometer separate from my phone would be good. Ideas?

[smallpotato]

jwinct, a lot of schools down here on the shoreline had delays. MH just got back from bringing N to school and said it wasn't bad out. I'm surprised the schools up north didn't delay too.

penguin129, hugs to you. One of the reasons I didn't go out with N was because I was afraid of being judged if he acted up. If these are friends or moms from your mom's group, I would hope they would understand what you've been through.

[hikingmama222]

My kids have decided they hate sleep this week. DD has been up between 530 and 630 every day. She usually sleeps until 8-830 (sometimes 930). DS hasn't given me more than a 3 hour stretch. (and only one, the rest are between 1.5-2.5 hrs). My mom is taking DD for a sleepover tonight so hopefully I can sleep in tomorrow morning.

Need to pick up some stuff for DD's birthday party this morning. She has pre-school this afternoon. I really should go shower and get going on the day.

[vavavictoria]

hikingmama222 I'm with you on team no sleep. #2 wakes up every 3 hours and then won't go back to sleep. I don't know what her problem is! I'm so tired! Three nights in a row of this so far. I'm hoping it's a growth spurt or something and will be over soon.

[jwinct]

DS slept from 7:15pm to 3:30am, had a bottle, then slept until about 6:15am. He's getting so close... This doesn't happen every night, though, unfortunately.

I got the new OneRepublic CD for Christmas and I love, love it. It will likely be playing on repeat in my office all day today. I want to see them in concert so badly. They were at Mohegan Sun last month for a local radio station's holiday concert, but it was on a Thursday night and I just couldn't do it. I was so sad that night, knowing they were so close and I was missing it. They probably played extra long, too, because Megan Trainor was one of the headliners and she cancelled. She would have been fun to see, though, too.

[iwantbacon]

On sleep, ditching the swaddle has been terrible for sleep stretches. Why couldn't DS2 start trying to roll over while I was still out on leave instead of my first week back? He's a lovable trickster, that one.

[britta]

I'll sit on the no/little sleep bench. Every week and a half or so, DS2 sleep regresses for a night or two and, instead of waking between 4 and 5, will get up between 12 and 2. Last night it was 2:30 and it took me until 4 to get him back to sleep.

Speaking of, I know we talked about this before, but what, if any, pacifiers are working for your kids. Both of my kids seemed to want/need one, more than one than my oldest, but both can't seem to get the hang of it. So far I've tried Soothies in two different sizes, Dr. Brown's, Gumdrops, and currently using the Avent ones. He sucks so hard on all of them they just pop out of his mouth. If I hold it in, he'll chomp on it forever... but that kind of defeats the purpose. Recs?

H is off again, so we're going to a home building/remodeling show after lunch. We're coming close to making a final decision on building later this year, so it should help with that decision.

[britta]

Jan 6, 2017 10:06:55 GMT -5 @kitchen said:

britta I've heard or read a couple of times that sizing up the pacifier can help with babies who seem to want it but pop it out.

It seems I've heard this too. The only one I tried sizing up so far was the Soothie. And that was too hard (solid?) for him to even know what to do with. He seems to like the Avent ones pretty well, maybe I should try the next size up. I think he's using 0-6 month now?

[jwinct]

Jan 6, 2017 10:06:55 GMT -5 @kitchen said:

britta I've heard or read a couple of times that sizing up the pacifier can help with babies who seem to want it but pop it out.

This is true. DD1 always needed a larger pacifier. DS isn't too interested in them, but he does better with the 6-18 month size than the size that's supposed to be for his age. We have almost always used the Nuk pacifiers. I think he's going to end up being a thumb sucker because his thumb is in his mouth quite a bit these days. 

Here he is sucking/chewing on it at Urgent Care last weekend. 

[vavavictoria]

britta I'm a big fan of mam pacies. I don't know if it will help with the popping out issue but our dentist said mam and nook are better for dental development

[iwantbacon]

britta we are a MAM pacifier family. Though now I'm going to try the larger size ones we have to see if they stay in more.

[hikingmama222]

And DD just fell back asleep on the couch. Mama knew she wasn't ready to wake up!

[hikingmama222]

On the paci... DS loves his but pops it out all the time. We've been using the Wubbanubs and he's getting better at keeping his hand up so it stays in, or he just chews on the stuffie. Tried Mam and Advent and they didn't stay in either.

[britta]

I feel like I've spent a fortune on pacis. MH thinks I should just give up offering it. Which is what I did with DS1, but this one wants to comfort suck. And I'm not giving him a bottle to do that.

[britta]

Jan 6, 2017 10:45:36 GMT -5 britta said:

I feel like I've spent a fortune on pacis. MH thinks I should just give up offering it. Which is what I did with DS1, but this one wants to comfort suck. And I'm not giving him a bottle to do that.

Quoting myself because I thought of a confession related to this.

I don't ever want to go back to the chaos that was my oldest's fiest 1.5 years of life. MH and I worked so much, I barely remember a lot of it because we were purely in survival mode. H would go days without even seeing DS1.

BUT. It was so much easier parenting when I was the only one making decisions. I feel like all I hear is "Oh. He's getting a bath TONIGHT?" "Nope, he doesn't want this paci." "Don't you think it's a little late in the day for a nap?" and my personal fave, "I think he's hungry." 🙄🙄🙄🙄 Like, dude. Just let me do this.

[hikingmama222]

Jan 6, 2017 11:10:26 GMT -5 britta said:

Jan 6, 2017 10:45:36 GMT -5 britta said:

I feel like I've spent a fortune on pacis. MH thinks I should just give up offering it. Which is what I did with DS1, but this one wants to comfort suck. And I'm not giving him a bottle to do that.

Quoting myself because I thought of a confession related to this.

I don't ever want to go back to the chaos that was my oldest's fiest 1.5 years of life. MH and I worked so much, I barely remember a lot of it because we were purely in survival mode. H would go days without even seeing DS1.

BUT. It was so much easier parenting when I was the only one making decisions. I feel like all I hear is "Oh. He's getting a bath TONIGHT?" "Nope, he doesn't want this paci." "Don't you think it's a little late in the day for a nap?" and my personal fave, "I think he's hungry." 🙄🙄🙄🙄 Like, dude. Just let me do this.

DH sucks a comforting the baby. Any time DS cries he'll say "put him on the boob". He pretty much won't let me leave for an hour unless he has a bottle of pumped milk for DS even if I've just fed him. He's not hungry every time he cries!

[Deleted]

It's cold today so no walks for us. We actually had a pretty good morning, even though it started SUPER early. DS and I played a bit and coloured then made lunch. He's currently napping. DD is back to being more normal, she's actually asleep in her swing, and has been for almost 2 hours.

I just checked my tracking from purolator because my double stroller was supposed to be here today....only to find it says mechanical delay and may arrive til Monday. Sad face. Then H called and said he was going to be a bit later than he anticipated (he frequently gets off early on Fridays) because his boss added a couple more toilet installations. Then he has to wait for the ferry.

[jwinct]

I think I'm going to try the MAM pacifiers. I have tried Nuk and Soothie and they basically just piss him off, especially the Soothie. I think he thinks it's a bottle at first and when he realizes it's not, he gets angry.

[Deleted]

Jan 6, 2017 12:48:05 GMT -5 jwinct said:

I think I'm going to try the MAM pacifiers. I have tried Nuk and Soothie and they basically just piss him off, especially the Soothie. I think he thinks it's a bottle at first and when he realizes it's not, he gets angry.

Both my kids HATE the soothie. It's like I'm trying to poison them. However they have both really loved these:  static.chemistwarehouse.com.au/ams/media/pi/66676/F2D_800.jpg

They come in a million colours and designs (even some where the handles glow in the dark, perfect for finding them in the crib).

[sanibel21]

Both DD have been fans of the Avent freeflow orthodontic binkies. I mean LO pops it out a bunch, but I didn't think anything of it.
We had a playdate this am that we went to even though it snowed. I just needed to get out of the house and I needed that win of going out in the snow, haha. Luckily it all went well.
My mom was supposed to come over so I could get out for a couple hours this afternoon, but she had to cancel. It's my last Friday before going back to work on Fridays too. Womp womp.
I'm holding off dd1s nap hoping dd2 will get tired and go down for a long one.
I got some hand-me-downs I want to wash.
Still thinking about the preschool thing. I feel like I'm rushing into it because I just looked at one and liked it and the location and price are the best around. But I don't know when I can get to other ones and I'm a really indecisive person so I almost think I should just go for it. She's gonna have another 2 years of preschool so I can change if needed. Then I feel like I definitely need to keep it up once I start it. And it's expensive! But I think it'll be worth it in all sorts of ways.
Fourth and final Christmas tomorrow at my house. Very casual so that's good.

[iwantbacon]

Preschool is insanely expensive. I missed the boat on touring schools so I'm going to just apply to one, get on the list for a daycare center with pre-I curriculum, and hope for the best. But I sure as hell am not sending my kid to a preschool that costs more than it would for a year of MBA tuition.

[penguin129]

Jan 6, 2017 9:28:26 GMT -5 smallpotato said:

jwinct , a lot of schools down here on the shoreline had delays. MH just got back from bringing N to school and said it wasn't bad out. I'm surprised the schools up north didn't delay too.

penguin129 , hugs to you. One of the reasons I didn't go out with N was because I was afraid of being judged if he acted up. If these are friends or moms from your mom's group, I would hope they would understand what you've been through.

It went really well. I am so happy I went. I had to navigate talking to the other moms while trying to watch AG and they were all watching their kids (HL was sleeping in the stroller). Some of them have 4 kiddos so there were definitely more kids than moms. I found myself talking about my experience in the NICU and Post Partum Anxiety a bit. Even my experience with the Paragard. I feel like I could really help so many people by sharing my story. I need to just let people judge you know... they will anyway.

I'm sorry you had the issue with N. I'm starting to feel that way about AG at times. I've given her time outs at Mommy and Me twice and was questioned about it and if "my patience is less now that I have HL". It is the age.

[penguin129]

I'm trying to rock HL to sleep in the bouncer and praying AG sleeps a bit longer so I can get a shower before she wakes up. She went down for a late nap because I couldn't stop talking with my friend when I went to pick up HL's Valentines outfit.

[penguin129]

Here we go:

*Co-parenting is hard for sure. I took AG grocery shopping last night and came home to HL in just a diaper in the bouncer and Natvie American chanting/drum music really loud. Mr. P was rocking her and singing his own hum but got tired. GERD babies... you do what works.

*On preschool I am so happy that Florida has the FREE Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program. It is free the year they turn 4. There is an age cut off just like kindergarten. Before HL I was for sure putting AG in next year. Now that HL is here I think I will wait until the 18-19 school year. Is it really going to be that 2 years from now?!

[penguin129]

hmmm... A FFFC

I leave things I notice that are little dirty on purpose to see if Mr. P will notice them and clean them himself. The TV has had fingerprints on it for the longest time and apparently I am the only one who can see them. It is something I used to do as an assistant and co-manager. I think it bites me in the butt at home. I should just say "please clean the TV".