Parenting Check-in (September 14th)

[kh826]

Good Morning Parents!

Here is our roster for this check-in:

Parenting
healz413
Manada
kevinandjesse
foodislove
megd893
calsurb
andstilltrying
jazibel
kh826
karlamo
jgy
sherminator
mahler5
wittyandwaiting
kona
strings
mrsnorris
2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)
jennicole
amberreva

*If you would like to be added to the list, just let us know!

Also, if the group thinks it would be helpful to add a name/initial and/or birthdate for children to the roster, just let me know. I would be happy to add that.

So, tell us about your parenting experiences this past week? Any new milestones? Anything exciting in your house?

QOTW: Let's talk schooling! For those with newborns, if you haven't thought about this at all yet, substitute childcare for schooling. Whatever the next step in education/care is for your kiddo(s) -- preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle school, etc. Do you think you will be a public school family? Private school? Home school? Talk to us about your education ideals and your plans for the future! For those focusing on childcare instead of school, talk to us about daycare, nannies, SAHPing, and how you plan to focus on education for your littles before they are preschool aged!

[kh826]

William is 15 months old!

This kid is such a little person, and he has so much personality it is just overwhelming (in the best possible way). On Saturday I had a moment where (and this is probably just my pregnancy hormones!!!) I looked at him and just started to cry because he is so amazing and he is ours and we are just so lucky. I tell him he is beautiful and smart and wonderful about a million times a day. I am totally that parent. I am completely obsessed with my kid. I am also completely unapologetic about it.

On Saturday we went to the grocery store in the morning (just William and me -- J stayed home to do some cleaning/organizing). I love talking William to the grocery store. It is usually just the two of us, so it is a little bit of special bonding time. He also LOVES food, so he gets excited. We spend a lot of time picking out produce, and I talk to him about what everything is that we are buying and ask him what color everything is. He is so funny that he has favorites that he likes to hold. He also says "Mmmmm" and "Yummy" when we put certain things in the cart (grapes, berries, broccoli, etc.) -- it is so cute. I love it! Anyway, we did the grocery store in the AM on Saturday, and then went home for lunch and nap time. He took a long nap on Saturday and J and I puttered doing some small chores around the house. After nap we had some family play time then a long bath for William (he would stay in the tub for hours if we let him!). It was a low key day but also mildly productive and William had lots of play time at home.

On Sunday we went to an outdoor market/festival called Clover Markets. They have lots of local vendors (artists, craft vendors, antique collectors, etc.), as well as food trucks and some other booths from local businesses. We went with J's mom, which was fun since she had never been before. We found a few treasures (William got a stuffed giraffe that J's mom bought him; we bought William a pair of really cool custom sweat pants in a really soft fabric with lions on it -- the woman who makes them will ship them to us after she makes them for him; and a cool wooden and fabric teether for Dosey). We also got some fun ideas for Christmas presents (J kept whispering to me -- that's cool, but I can totally make that myself!). Also, there is a local play place/education center called Nest in Philadelphia, and they had a booth there. We stopped by and picked up some brochures and William made a craft at their table. It was fun, and now we have our first official William art project on our fridge! J is interested in getting a membership to this place for 2016. They are family memberships, and once we have 2 kiddos it will likely be a good investment. They have various mommy and me classes, an open gym tumbling "class" that you can use any time, various parenting resources, and a preparation for preschool program geared toward kiddos who are not in daycare -- to help with socialization as well as preparing kids for the structured schedule of school. Parents take their kiddos and stay with them the whole time. It is only a couple of hours and you could go once a week, once a month or just once, but it mimics a school day. They have a music circle, a craft time, a snack time, a quiet time where they read books, etc. Something good to look into, we think...

We looked at video monitors with two cameras yesterday. Looks like we can't just buy an extra camera for the one that we already have. Bummer! That was short sighted of us, but just totally wasn't on our radar when shopping for gear last time we were pregnant. I think we have narrowed down our choices to a Motorola one and a Summer one. We have a Summer video monitor now, and we like it just fine. The Motorola model has a bigger screen, and I am wondering if we will like that or if it will be too clunky. It is also a bit cheaper. Anyone here have any recommendations?

I am starting to worry about parenting 2 under 2. I know we will figure it out as we go and make it work. I also know that it will be challenging. I think I am most worried about my relationship with J. I don't want us to lose patience with each other or isolate ourselves from each other (i.e. we divide and conquer by each taking a kiddo and don't interact as much as a family). I know in the very early days it is about survival, so that will likely happen to some degree, I just don't want it to be our norm. I am definitely looking forward to some sage words of advice from all the folks here who have experience with two little ones close in age!

QOTW: We are 99% sure that we will be public school people. Mostly due to cost. There is a private school here that we LOVE, but we would never be able to afford it for multiple children. There are really no affordable options for private school by us. There are some really awesome public school districts by us, but there are also some AWFUL ones (i.e. School District of Philadelphia - it's really shameful how awful it is). We have done a lot of research and have two favorite districts that we would be very happy with if we can afford a house in either district. There are a few back-up options that are less desirable, but also on our radar. The issue is that we feel we need more space to grow our family, so we will be looking for a house with more square footage and bedrooms when we move. Larger houses in the school districts we like are mostly wayyyy outside of our price range. It will all be about what compromises we are willing to make when the time comes. School district will likely be our #1 concern when we move.

We have been thinking about and talking about preschool a lot lately. We may only have William do one year of pre-k when he is 4 yrs old, with J supplementing at home with some "home schooling" type of things before that. Our last name starts with an H, and so J likes to call is "H... [insert last name] Schooling." Preschool programs are soooo expensive, and we are not looking for a daycare, which believe it or not is somewhat hard to find (a preschool that is affordable and NOT a daycare program). We have found a few local places that we would like to know more about, so we will do some more investigating soon. It will also largely depend on where we are living, and who the heck knows where we will be in 2-2.5 yrs. We are interesting in learning more about play-based learning programs... more research needed!

Education is super important to us, and I just hope that we can provide our kids with a quality education that we can afford and won't impact our lifestyle negatively. The upside is that William already has a college fund. That won't help us for another 17 years, but there's that!

[2brides]

It was a good, but busy weekend. Soccer started for the kids on Saturday. Carter is really taking is seriously and working hard because he wants to join the rec league in the spring. L is working on cooking/baking with the kids and this weekend, they made buttermilk biscuits. The 3 of them are having a great time - and I am the official kitchen cleaner.

School: The kids were in a private school from PK4-2nd grade. We loved it for PK4, but knew it wasn't their forever and always school. It was very small (2nd grade had 9 kids total), but we were fine with the small size in elementary school, they were happy, and while L was finishing her PhD, we weren't going to make any big moves. Our plan was to keep them in that school through 5th and then move to a new town(the middle/high we are zoned for is awful.) During 2nd grade, we found out they were building a new charter school 1.5 miles from our house. We went to the info meeting and loved it so we decided to pull them from private (we were guaranteed a space that first year and wanted the kids to be new when everyone was going to be new) and head to the new charter for 3rd. This is the 2nd year there and we really like it - we still have friends at the old school and things aren't going well there, so we feel like we dodged a bullet. The new school goes till 8th, so we don't have to worry about middle school. I have no idea what we will do re: high school. There is talk about building another charter that will feed directly from this school, but I am not holding my breath for that to happen in time for them to go. Or we might need to move to another town to get to a better HS. But we have 4.5 years to see what is going to happen! OMG. My kids will be in high school in 4.5 years.

I never imagined finding the right school was going to be so hard.

[karlamo]

Checking in from the dr's. I have some weird rash that is itching me. Grrr.

R is STTN!!! Yay! He finally started doing it a week after L came home. It is wonderful and yet we're up every 2-3 hours with L. I have to laugh at this but this is the reason why we wanted kids close in age. Get all the newborn, hard stuff out of the way before we get used to an easier life.

R adores L but at the same time wants to hit him and smother him. He doesn't know his own strength and obviously can't differentiate between being allowed to throw his doll and not being allowed to throw L. We are working on the word gentle and soft touch. Our pediatrician had great advice for us which is to give R lots of positive reinforcement right now and always make sure L is strapped into whatever device we put him in. R already is shaking the RNP and swing when L is in it.

L is a dolly and is almost 3 weeks old. He's gaining a ton of weight which is a huge relief since we're EBF him. He eats all the time and makes it challenging to take care of R with L attached to my boob. My wife is also breast feeding L which is a huge help and great for their own bonding too. So far R doesn't want to BF off of me. I'm not forcing it but I do keep offering a boob to him in the hope he latches. As of now he will put it in his mouth but not latch. It's almost like he thinks it's taboo to feed off of me. Meanwhile he is nursing like a newborn off of my wife. Like eats all day long from her. I assume it's a little regression mixed with having her home on maternity leave.

Speaking of leave, we have 2 weeks left with her home then I'm on my own. I'm freaking out about doing this alone. It's hard enough with 2 of us. I seriously hope in 2 weeks I feel ready. I have no idea how full time SAHM do it! Mega respect from me on that one.

Despite the newborn haze, we are madly in love with our sons.

[shemarie82]

We had another crazy week with the twins. B is a high school volleyball official, so she has been gone a lot of evenings. They boys and I have been able to get down a routine pretty well and I don't feel like I am totally failing them. It is nice when she is home for the extra set of hands, but there is SOOO much more whining from the kids when she is there. I guess I would take the help over the quiet at this point.

The foster care system has a lot of checks in place for the kids, which I believe is needed, BUT it is a real pain for the foster parents. We will have people in our home twice this week, support group one evening, and the kids have 3 visitations. It is hard to keep it all straight along with keeping the house clean because there is always someone coming or going!

Yesterday was our 1st wedding anniversary. We went to a local orchard and petting zoo with the kids and our nieces. We have taken them before, but they were much more engaged with the animals this time.

I think I mentioned last week that I am concerned about the boys not speaking at all, the Early On lady confirmed that they should be saying some words at this point. We are working really hard with them, and are starting some basic sign language as well.

QOTW: The twins are going to our friends' daycare which we are so comfortable with them being at. Our SIL also runs one, in the town that I work in, but we still take them to our friend instead. This is their second week there, and they are getting down the routine as well. She does a preschool curriculum which we are really happy about. At this point, we figure the more people we have working with them, the better off we are. Once (if) we get to the school age we have two choices with local schools. They are about the same distance away, the one is the school in which my SIL teaches in, and the other is where B graduated from. We aren't sure which way we will go. Academically, all the schools are pretty great around our area, but my SIL's early childhood district is leagues above everywhere else.

[jazibel]

We had a great weekend - pretty mellow all in all. Friday night Elizabeth had to work so I took the kids to an indoor play place that we love. They had story time, a couple of dance party's with bubble machines and flashing lights and even a water and light show. Saturday we drove all around as a family running errands and hanging out. Surprisingly they had a great time in the fabric store together.

Kaden and Owen are becoming the best of friends. Yesterday they played together for 3 hours. THREE hours. Chase, hide and go seek, climbing the couch, etc. And they played gently, with only a couple of times where I had to step in and remind them to be mindful of one another. THREE hours and I got a lot of the garage packed in that time. Amazing. karlamo, kh826, the first year was rough with 2 under 2. Especially the first 6-7 months. Kaden was not gentle, he was intrigued and loved Owen immediately but he was rough and sometimes aggressive in true toddler fashion. We had to be sooooo careful and that alone was stressful. (For example we'd leave Owen on the rug for a second to find Kaden happily sitting on Owen's head. Not the kind of mistake you make twice, after your heart plummets. Anyway now 16 months later life is amazing. Obviously not without the challenges parents face - but so worth it. I'm sad that #3 will likely come further down the line - but I'm sure there are good things about having kids 2.5 - 3+ years apart too.

Some Kaden and Owen moments - they hold hands when we walk in the store together. Kaden tells me when Owen has climbed on the table. They are now sharing a room and FX neither wants their own room again - they love sharing. Owen squealed today when I told him we were picking Kaden up from school and threw himself down for a diaper change. They held hands from their car seats almost all the way home.

I love it when Owen sings Happy Birthday (or his baby version of it which is only Happy BBBB ay)

QOTD: I found out recently that there is a charter Waldorf school in the town we're moving back too. And our friend and Waldorf teacher told us that she's heard good things about the school. So right now this school is my first choice. The public schools in our town are good as California schools go. There are private schools (Waldorf or Montessori) that I'd like for Elementary but paying for 2-3 kids seems outrageous. We've also considered homeschooling - but really I'd rather use homeschooling to supplement in-school education. Since we're moving in a couple of weeks I'm looking for preschools yet again. Gah! Kaden loves his current preschool/daycare so it's a bummer to have to start this search all over again. I have some good leads though - so that's great.

[healz413]

Ellis is 4 weeks old today! She's starting to chunk up nicely and she's getting longer. She's growing out of some of her newborn sleepers, which means it's about time for her to start swimming in 0-3 clothes.

She's feeding much more actively most of the time these days--better suck and more awake. As a result she's generally taking only 1 oz of supplement instead of 1.5 after feedings despite her growing nutritional needs. I'm looking forward to our midwife appt tomorrow to find out how she's doing weight wise( she was 7lb 13oz on Thursday) and to talk about our feeding schedule and where to go next with it.

Ellis is sleeping well overnight (usually a 4 hour stretch at some point) but she's awake for 2-3 hours before that. It's different times each night so it can be challenging for us to plan bedtime accordingly. overall, though, we are lucky so far on the sleep front.

Yesterday was my first day home with E by myself. We both survived. She wouldnt let me put her down though. She usually gets held a lot during the day but also lets us put her in her rock n play sometimes. We will try again today. If not, I will just hold her all day. There are worse things!

QOTW:
E will start daycare at 1 yr old. We just toured the daycare we want last week. They say they should have room for us but of course there are no guarantees which makes us nervous.

[2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)]

Hello! I've been Mia for a while. Posting here because I can't seem to start a new thread. Well my wife went back to work June 29 and Rory's been growing like crazy and the days just pass by so quickly! Wake up, get him ready, go to work, home, feeding (all of us!), family time, nighttime routine , hopefully the gym, then sleep. Repeat.
It's a crazy but fun life that you all know so well.
Compared to a lot of other moms I talk to, we've got it good. He sleeps (mostly), is healthy , is starting to crawl help me! Lol) , etc.
He had his first play date (official) this week-- a 10 month old. It was fun. A little hitting a little playing no sharing and 2 ADD babies hahaha
So... Who's ready for #2. ! Maybe in a couple more years...
Hope everyone here is well. I'm gonna try to catch up in the next few weeks while work is slowish

Eta- we are in a smaller than we will eventually need and bad for the area district so moving will be in our future but I'm sure we will do public school. I think our only other choice is catholic school and... That's too much