Parenting Check-in June 8

[karlamo]

Good Morning!

Welcome calsurb

How was everyone's week/end?  Anything new or challenging to report?


Parenting
andstilltrying
jazibel
kh826
karlamo
jgy
sherminator
mahler5
wittyandwaiting
kona
strings
mrsnorris
2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)
jennicole
amberreva

QOTW:  SUMMERTIME FUN!! 
What yard toys do you have?   Got any tips on keeping LO's safe?   Sunblock brands?
 Bug Spray?  Let's hear it!

[kh826]

William is a YEAR OLD! How did this happen?!?!

The last 4 days have been a whirlwind, but in the best ways possible. William's birthday was on Thursday, and we had his well-check with the pedi that morning. He is 25 lbs 10 oz and 31 inches long. 86th percentile for height and 95th percentile for weight. He is huge! The pedi had great things to say. She said he looked awesome, and he showed her a few of his tricks (words, pointing out body parts, following commands, etc.)... I say this in the least braggy way possible, I swear... but she said he looks and acts more like a 16 month old. Aside from the not walking without assistance thing, which she agreed that she thinks he probably *can* do but is afraid to try after watching him walk down the hall holding onto just one hand. Anyway, it was a great appointment.

He also got 3 vaccines (MMR, Chicken pox & hepatitis A). He did really well with the shots, and didn't even seem cranky or tired later in the day, which we were a little worried about.

He also had an iron test and a lead test. Both came back in the normal range, which I was relieved about. I am significantly anemic and have been off and on for most of my life, we also do not feed William red meat (and very little meat in general), so I was worried about iron. We also live in a 200 yr old house, so I was worried about lead too even though we have done everything possible to ensure that won't be an issue. So it was a relief to have both of those tests come back in the normal range.

After his well-check on Thursday, we went out to lunch for his birthday. He was wearing a shirt that said it was his birthday, and the waitress brought him out his meal (we ordered him noodles and veggies) with a candle in it!

Saturday was his birthday party, and it was a big success. My family came in from Boston, and they were actually really helpful and not as high maintenance as they have been in the past. Our house and yard looked good and everyone loved the decorations and food. We have TONS of left overs, which I am actually really excited about. William loved his smash cake, and we got some good photos. His favorite thing seemed to be just playing in the grass. He crawled around on the ground for hours with his little cousin and friends, and it great. He LOVED it. He was totally filthy, and I tossed him in the bath tub the second that everyone left! HAHA

We leave for vacation this Friday night, and I am so excited. We will be flying with William for the first time, and I am nervous about that, but I am sure it will be fine. We bought him his own seat and are bringing he car seat. I am hopeful that he won't hate it. He does well in the car, so in theory he should be fine. We bought him a couple of new small toys at Target that we plan to take out for the plane, so hopefully that will also help. We are staying at my in-laws' condo in Myrtle Beach, so hopefully that will be toddler friendly. We can go to the grocery store and get the food he likes and we will have a kitchen right there. We can buy some cheap gear (pack-n-play, etc) at the local target and leave it at the condo to use in the future, etc. So I am hoping as far as vacations go that this is pretty easy. We could all REALY use some relaxation!

Let's see... other random William things...
* He has started throwing things (mainly food and his sippy cup) a bit more often. It is frustrating, and we are trying to reinforce other ways for him to tell us he is done with something.
* He has started say "NO" A LOT! He says it with a little smirk on his face as he is doing something that he knows he is not supposed to (i.e. he will climb up on his little rocking chair and stand on it, and when we say "William that isn't safe, you have to sit down on your bottom" he says No and giggles. - We will then move him and sit him on his bottom on the chair and say "this is how we sit on the chair" and he just climbs back up to stand on it. He will do this 3-4 times in a row before we then remove the chair). He isn't tantruming (yet?), but definitely doesn't like being redirected.
* He loves giving Moms kisses. Sometimes when we ask for them, and other time just because he feels like it. He kisses are currently all open mouthed and slobbery, and it is super cute.
* He thinks so many animals are dogs. He calls everything dog. Cats, teddy bears, etc. - they are all dogs to him.
* We have been putting him in his crib wide awake lately, and he will play in there until he falls asleep. Last night, he just was so wound up and didn't seem ready for bed at all. I finally put him in his crib at 8pm and he played in there for an hour before he finally fell asleep!

QOTW: William got a lot of fun outdoor toys for his bday. My mom got him a radio flyer tricycle, which I am super excited about. He also got a toy lawn mower that blows bubbles, that I think he will love. J's parents got him a sandbox, but it hasn't been delivered yet. I think that will also be a big hit! J and I bought him a little play house for his bday. So I am hoping that we will have lots of fun outdoor play this summer. He seemed to totally love being outside on Saturday, so I think he is going to have a blast.

In terms of brands, We have been putting Aveeno Baby 55spf sun screen on him. It seems to work well, and it doesn't bother him. I have put it on his face also, and it doesn't seem to irritate his skin, which is good because he has super sensitive skin (like me - and I burn very easily). We will be reapplying sun screen, trying hard to keep his sun hat on, and trying to keep him in the shade as much as possible at the beach. We haven't tried bug spray yet, so I am interested in what others recommend. We would want something natural that doesn't really have a smell and also isn't sticky.

Oh, here is a question -- what do folks use for pool floaties with their kiddos? Any other recommendations for pool and/or beach stuff that would be useful?

[karlamo]

Finally geting to check-in

R is 15 months.

He is doing amazing! I'm reserved bragging about him on here but honestly we have a superstar of a baby. These past 2 weeks have been very challenging and he has taken it all in stride. He gives the best hugs to us and am I never get tired of hearing the compliments we get from other parents about how sweet and beautiful he is. Okay, enough of mommy bragging.
He has learned the word "No", which is cute and helpful but is getting used against us. He has his 15 month check up on Wed, and will be getting some more shots and then on Thursday had made an apt to have a full allergy panel donw on him to get a full picture of what allergies he may have. If anyone has been through this, I'd love to hear from you.

QOTW: We are building our plastic yard toy collection piece by piece. I scored a mini coupe car and a seasaw toy at a yard sale on Saturday for $15. He also has water table, mower, pool, real pool, our garden hose...

We use only Coopertone because he had a reaction to the other types including Honest co. We haven't tried bug spray and I am lost as to which chemical free one to go with that works.

kh826, Sounds like the party was a huge hit! As for floaties, do you mean the arm ones? I was at the store yesterday checking them out and the min. weight is 30lbs. We are going to get a life jacket instead.

[kh826]

Jun 8, 2015 11:08:56 GMT -5 karlamo said:

kh826, Sounds like the party was a huge hit! As for floaties, do you mean the arm ones? I was at the store yesterday checking them out and the min. weight is 30lbs. We are going to get a life jacket instead.

Oh, good to know! We were planning to check them out next Saturday when we get to our vacation destination. I guess a life jacket it will be then. Do you use that even when just taking them in the pool? I mean, I will be holding him the entire time, but I am just nervous. Have other folks here had experiences with introducing a 1 yr old to a pool for the first time and what the best approach is for safety and comfort for him and for us? J isn't really interested in the pool -- she kind of hates it, but I LOVE it, so I am more than happy to be the one to take him in. I just want to make sure that I do everything safely, and I am a little nervous!

[mahler5]

C is 15 months.

We saw a turtle on our walk around the neighborhood this morning. I think it was lost. I told her it was a turtle but I don't think it registered. Right now if she sees dogs or flowers on our walks she totally goes crazy. It's pretty cute how these things never get old to her.

She is able to say water (or close to it) and milk, which is super helpful. And she keeps jabbering away, sometimes coherent but mostly not.

We went to an outside event yesterday that had a free kids puppet show. She loved it and went crazy when she saw some pandas since her favorite stuff animal is her Panda. She will sleep with it and sometimes another stuff animal. When she wakes up she will be saying "hi" over and over to it before we come get her. It's super cute and definitely beats waking up to her crying any day.

She is still being clingy at times. I think it's still a phase of the separation anxiety. She is especially attached to me since I SAH and will run to me wanting me to pick her up even when L is playing with her (and I'm trying to fix dinner or something). I feel bad for L. She loves playing with L too but she has this weird attachment thing if I'm around.

QOTW -- we have a tiny kiddie pool that came with an umbrella and some water toys. She loves it. Then we have a cozy coupe car. And we bought some sand toys for when we go to the park. I'm thinking about getting a small slide but in trying to hold out on buying too much stuff.

We use this sunscreen we got at natural grocer (sort of like whole foods) that we like. They also have a version with citronella that we got but haven't used yet. I want to try it out on a less sensitive part of the skin but I'm hoping it works well. I hate putting anything with weird chemicals on her but it's inevitable. And she is a little older now so I don't feel as bad about it. But L still freaks out about her being around anything with chemicals in it (painted toys even sometime or soft plastic ones) and I'm getting sick of it. I know she means well though. But we can't raise her in a bubble!

Hope everyone has a great week!

[karlamo]

kh826, Still check them out, if you find ones that are for 25lbs, let me know! We have a pool and I take him swimming a lot. I always hold him without a life jacket on. If were to be around an inground pool, I would be putting a life jacket on him for sure. Our pool is above ground. I may start putting a life jacket on him to get him used to it and I never know when he decides to take dive out of my arms.

mahler5, I agree with not wanting to buy every yard toy in sight. I've been cruising CL and yard sales for my finds. I'm not too picky on the condition as long as they're safe and not broken.

[mahler5]

Jun 8, 2015 12:54:40 GMT -5 karlamo said:

kh826, Still check them out, if you find ones that are for 25lbs, let me know! We have a pool and I take him swimming a lot. I always hold him without a life jacket on. If were to be around an inground pool, I would be putting a life jacket on him for sure. Our pool is above ground. I may start putting a life jacket on him to get him used to it and I never know when he decides to take dive out of my arms.

mahler5, I agree with not wanting to buy every yard toy in sight. I've been cruising CL and yard sales for my finds. I'm not too picky on the condition as long as they're safe and not broken.

I'm jealous of your yard sale finds! I need to look more. The few I've been to recently didn't have anything good.

[Stringy]

Just to jump in on the pool stuff- M has been in and out of swim lessons since she was like 6 months old (and by lessons I mean splashing). I've always held her and it's been fine although it gets tiring after a half hour. They have disc/tube like things that babies can sit in but I feel like those are more for non mobile babies but at a year he may still like it and they sometimes have a sun shade attached. We are boaters and last year at 14-16 months she did okay with a real life jacket. But it just doesn't seem very comfortable and she never actually swam in it. Fwiw we bought he the next size for this summer and it starts at 30 lbs. she weighed 24 at her 2 year appointment (she's a peanut)- but seems so much more comfy. I'm not worried that it's a few pounds more- as long as it has a strap that goes between her legs. We also got her the Stearns puddle jumper thing we saw recommended- which also is technically 30 lbs but we plan to use when she is actually swimming some this summer (if she allows that) so she can gain independence.

So don't be worried. You'll do fine holding him or in some kind of float. It's the people who don't worry about it that end up in trouble.

[esquette]

kh826, I know this isn't my board to play on, but I wanted to link you to this: otteroo.com/ in case it might help!

[karlamo]

Jun 8, 2015 14:59:00 GMT -5 mahler5 said:

Jun 8, 2015 12:54:40 GMT -5 karlamo said:

kh826, Still check them out, if you find ones that are for 25lbs, let me know! We have a pool and I take him swimming a lot. I always hold him without a life jacket on. If were to be around an inground pool, I would be putting a life jacket on him for sure. Our pool is above ground. I may start putting a life jacket on him to get him used to it and I never know when he decides to take dive out of my arms.

mahler5, I agree with not wanting to buy every yard toy in sight. I've been cruising CL and yard sales for my finds. I'm not too picky on the condition as long as they're safe and not broken.

I'm jealous of your yard sale finds! I need to look more. The few I've been to recently didn't have anything good.

Don't be. It was dumb luck I found the stuff. We we're out on our morning walk and somone was having a yard sale. Everytime I try to buy off of CL it's already gone.

[kona]

Olivia is 10 months.

We are having a lot of success sleep training. We started Saturday night since we had to be out of our house Friday night due to some work at our house. She cried/fussed for 30 minutes max and fell asleep in her crib. It has gotten better each night since then. We are still having some difficulties keeping her asleep till our preferred wake time which is no earlier than 7. She was up at 4AM this morning and didn't get back down till nearly 6AM. But she hasn't slept in our bed since Saturday and she falls asleep in her crib. We have also got our hour or 2 back in the evening to talk with each other which is really nice. All big wins for us. You would think I would be more rested, alas I am not.

She is really getting the hang of walking and taking steps without encouragement, just kind of letting go of the couch and walking away. She will do high five and give slobery kisses. She is really interested in playing with our dog too which is cute and a bit nerve wracking. The dog is really good with her but I still like to supervise as she likes to hit him in the face. She also has started hitting me in the face. I was putting her in the ring sling yesterday afternoon and she just kept wacking me. She doesn't really seem to get the word 'no' yet. She also has started to really play independently and be able to entertain herself. She loves to look at books and just recently will stack blocks and put them in/out of a bucket.

We had our first outing to a 'restaurant'. We ate at Chipotle Friday night while we out. This is our first trip to a restaurant with her and she did great. Of course she made a mess of the ground but we ate outside so I didn't worry too much about it. We saw lots of people with younger children in the baby bucket car seats, 6 months and younger. I was a little jealous because we could never go out with Olivia when she was that age. I feel like we were robbed of that but I wouldn't trade my beautiful daughter for anything now.

QOTW: We are using Babytime sunscreen, it has zinc oxide in it and as few chemicals as we could find. It's crazy expensive so we will see how long it lasts if we stick with it. We have been in swim lessons for a few months now but obviously she just splashes around at 10 months. I was a competitive swimmer and lifeguard for 15 years and to me learning to swim is a life skill and she will stay in lessons for awhile. We do have a life jacket that starts at 30# but it might work in a pinch. We do plan on using the town pool this summer and family's pool, we will have to look into options for her to be safe on a pool deck.

[2brides]

The boys are 9y and will be spending the summer at day camp. It is the same place they have gone for the past 4y and they really enjoy it. It is a bit of a commuting nightmare - I head 25 minutes north and then drive 60 minutes south to get to work - but the price point it perfect, the kids have fun, and my job puts up with my late arrivals and early departures a few days/week for 10 weeks.

QOTD: We use whatever spray sunscreen we pick up at the store and then whatever stick for their faces - we were a lot more picky when they were babies and we didn't go through a can/week! They (almost)always wear a rash guard shirt and swim 2x/day at camp so their arms/legs end up pretty brown by the end of the summer. The kids have been in swimming lessons since 6m and are decent swimmers - but we are keeping them in swim lessons at camp again this summer until they can competently master the strokes and tread water for a substantial length of time. No summer toys in our yard - unless you count the soccer balls, footballs, playground balls, etc! I am so ready for summer!!

[calsurb]

Thanks for the welcome karlamo! I'm a couple days behind in reading these but I thought I should jump in.

We've been parents for about a week and it's been quite manageable since we're both on extended leave.

Qotw: does a hammock count as a yard toy? That's all we have at the moment!

[karlamo]

2brides, I'm with you on the price. I'd be making that drive if it was a good fit for our family.