Parenting Check in Aug 10

[karlamo]

Good Morning:)

What's new with everyone? If there are any parents who want to be added to the list please let us know:)

Parenting
kevinandjesse
foodislove
megd893
calsurb
andstilltrying
jazibel
kh826
karlamo
jgy
sherminator
mahler5
wittyandwaiting
kona
strings
mrsnorris
2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)
jennicole
amberreva

QOTW:  What's your least favorite parenting task? What's the one you enjoy the most?

[kh826]

William is 14 months!

This weekend we got our little walker fitted for his first pair of "real" shoes at Stride Rite. He is a 5.5 Wide. We got him a pretty cute pair of sneakers with orange laces. He actually really likes them and he ran all over the mall a bit in them after we left Stride Rite. I was walking behind him waiting for him to fall or plop himself down, but he just kept on truckin. He walked right into the Disney Store, and J said "Where are you guys going?" I replied "I don't know, I'm just following him!" HAHA
He doesn't really know any Disney characters, so he must have been attracted by the music that was coming from the store. It was cute.
He also spent some time looking in the window at Build-a-Bear. He kept pointing inside the store saying "This? This?" (as in, what's this?) HAHA. This boy is too much.

Well, he got his first fat lip yesterday. Luckily it wasn't that bad, and by bed time yesterday it already looked much better. We were working on organizing clothes upstairs yesterday and J had put him on our bed with some of his toys (she was standing right there, btw). I was in the walk-in closet in our room trying to organize my maternity clothes. Anyway, he fell forward at the end of the bed and hit his mouth on the foot board of the bed. J couldn't catch him fast enough before he hit his mouth. He only cried for about 30 seconds, but later he woke up from naptime with a puffy, red lip. We both felt really badly. I am sure worse than that will happen, but this was his first real boo-boo like that, so it made us particularly sad.

Otherwise, everything else is pretty status quo. He keeps adding more words and sounds (mainly animal sounds) to his vocabulary. He is still obsessed with reading books, stacking blocks, and playing ball. His personality and sense of humor continues to grow at an alarming rate!

QOTW: My favorite is the bed time routine. That is my domain, and we have snuggle time while he drinks his milk. It is my favorite.
My least favorite at the moment is diaper changes because he is such a squirm worm and doesn't like to be on his back for even a second. He is difficult to wrangle sometimes and he is so heavy! So right now, I find that the most challenging task.

[karlamo]

[mahler5]

C is 17 months!

We went to a 3 y.o. Bday party this weekend that she seemed to enjoy. She got to play in the water and explore some new toys!! She started to get tired and walked up to the door and was saying "bye bye" over and over. So I took that as her communicating she wanted to go home!

She has also started climbing into her stroller and saying "walk" in the morning, so I've been taking our morning walks after she does this. She's been doing it in the afternoon sometimes too, and it's so cute we've gone on walks twice a day sometimes.

She's consistently saying a few two word sentences. Mainly "hi mommy" or "all done". She has said "mommy go" a few times too. She is adding more words too.

And after 5 days of being in the crib again she has stopped crying when we put her down, so that is a relief.

QOTW -- I agree with kh826 about diaper changes. I just dread them is she poops because she will not hold still. She likes to sing some now which is awesome. So when we sing or read together that is always fun. And I love our outdoor time. We went to a toddler water place this weekend and that is so much fun -- I love seeing her so happy.

[jazibel]

Kaden is 3, Owen is 15 months

EV's on another work trip so the kids and I are flying solo this week again until Thursday). She travels at least 2 weeks a month and to be honest if I didn't have preschool/daycare I don't know what I would do.

Kaden went to the Pedi. last week, he's 38" and 33lbs. He's healthy, had a shot and only cried a little bit. Now he's playing doctor and giving us check ups which is really cute. Owen relishes Mondays when he's the solo kid. He is talking more and more, lots of "b" words in particular, "baby, bubbles, bath, peekaBOO". He is feeding himself almost exclusively and does well with the spoon and a small bowl or plate. He makes a huge mess though and then usually tops off the meal by spreading food in his hair or throwing his bowl on the floor.

The boys are best friends which I love to witness. They had their first "fight" which Owen instigated by slapping Kaden to get a toy. It was hilarious to watch - though I managed to turn it into a learning opportunity. ;-)

They loved having their grandparents here, and it was nice - though not always easier to have extra hands.

QOTD: kh826, mahler5, Owen is squirmy too - it drives me nuts! So diaper changes and clothing changes are not my favorite. For Kaden is pooping. Sometimes he loves using the potty - other times he just outright refuses...

I love bath time.

[2brides]

The boys are 9y.

This is their last week of camp. Next week we do Camp Mom and Mommy (3rd year now!) and then they start school. I can't believe this summer is nearly over. CRAZY.

QOTD: Least favorite? Homework. OMG. It is going to be the death of me. The way they act, is the exact nonsense I used to pull on my parents. Karma....

Most favorite? Watching stuff on the Food Network - they are so into it and can tell you all kinds of cooking techniques. LOL. I also just love having conversations with them about life. We can have real honest to goodness thoughtful conversations now! It is awesome!

[kona]

O is 12 months.

She is sleeping better the past few nights. We have been more consistent about making sure she falls asleep in her crib and is not so dependent on using a bottle or nursing to fall asleep. I hope we are on an upward trend for good now (I know wishful thinking).

She is really a fun kid right now. She is very interactive and loves playing with the Little People toy that her nanny got her. She loves to feed her dog her snack every afternoon, which is frustrating and adorable at the same time. She still loves music and reading books. Just in the past few days she has started to say what I would consider words (that as her parent I can distinguish). It's awesome that she still loves to be worn, I love snuggling with her.

QOTD: Least favorite: getting up in the middle of the night. Favorite: Bath/bed time.

[jgy]

G is 2+ some (He'll be 2 1/2 late next month)

We're going through a little bit of a rough patch lately when it comes to me leaving. It's hard because I know it hurts S's feelings that he gets SO DRAMATICALLY UPSET when I leave him with her. She knows, rationally, that it's just a phase that's like exacerbated by the fact that I'm pregnant. But still. Last night I left to go to an ICAN meeting and he really lost it. It was heartbreaking. Things are only slightly better in the morning at daycare drop-off but they can still be rough. I'm trying to incorporate some routing into it (like, okay time for Mommy to go, I need 2 kisses, 1 ..2). But that only gets us so far. Good luck to my Sister when we end up going in to have this baby!

We had a big weekend. On Saturday we picked up our new car, and then went to Costco. When we came home G had lunch and then went down for his nap, and I went to get a prenatal massage (yay!). After that we played at home for a while and then went to a friend's house for a mini paella party. Those friends have a 3 year old and the interactions between the 2 boys can be hit or miss. It was kind of miss this time, as both boys were pretty naughty and not wanting to share. Eventually we decided an earlier exit was warranted and came home right around bedtime.

On Sunday, we had a relaxing morning around the house and I did tons of laundry. We focused a little more intently on potty training and introduced pull-ups. G got a haircut, then played in the yard for a long time before his nap and then after nap he and I went to the grocery store. Somewhere in there we hit the playground too. S had to work in the afternoon and then a friend visited in the evening. We had a MAJOR pottying breakthrough before bed where G finally put more than about 5 drops of pee in the potty. I swear he let out about 2 cups, it was awesome. We had a party and danced!

Tonight is our last official night as a threesome! My Sister arrives tomorrow and will stay for 3 weeks. Assuming the baby is born some time during her stay (which is the whole plan), we won't ever have another Mommy/Mama/G night. So I bought mini ice cream sandwiches as a SOOOOPER special treat. G normally doesn't get sugar outside of what is in fruit or a tiny bit of maple syrup in his yogurt. This might blow his mind. And, ahem, his bedtime. Ah well.

QOTD: Lately I've been really enjoying taking G to the pool. He is just SOOO happy there. Playground too. Those outings are really rewarding. I'm actually also enjoying working on potty-training with him. Probably because we're taking a very low-stress, low-pressure approach. I have to say that bedtime responsibilities are wearing on me. It's a battle; he's such a little negotiator, and it wears me down.

[Deleted]

JGY, this is J to a T... the negotiator part. I swear. I should just copy your responses for J's book, its like you are describing him